1-1: America ‘B’ rescue a hard-fought point to remain second
Resilient Real Jaén take the lead, however debutant Juan Gutiérrez grabs a leveller to take a share of spoils
The UD Almería ‘B’ team rescued a hard-fought point in the final stretch of their encounter with Real Jaén at home, which allows the youth players to continue in the Group IX ‘A’ second place. The Rojiblancos suffered a blow with the high pressure from resilient opponents who got ahead in the second half. Juan Gutiérrez was in charge of rescuing a point with five minutes to go.
It was possible to verify that it was not going to be a comfortable match for Almería ‘B’ from the kick-off. Jaén did not let the Rojiblancos to make effective passes and thus, the visitors nearly scored following an action down the right wing after which Jesús Cambil finished off wide.
In general terms, there were no great scoring opportunities over the opening 45 minutes. In fact, it would not be until minute 45 when Rojiblanco Jean Marco enjoyed the clearest chance in which keeper Ángel de la Calzada had to reach in to avert danger. Jaén made their presence known up front without creating too much danger in front of goal before a goalless half-time.
Head coach Fernando Santos tried to give a good account of his team after the restart by looking for a response with Caballero and Siles coming on for Olivera and Escobar.
The Almeria second-team went through a period in which they had to stay strong at the back blocking Real Jaén attacking game, although Curro was not having to intervene often between the sticks. Ricardo Carvalho handled the ball on 69 minutes and conceded the penalty that gave the adversaries the lead thanks to Fran Hernández converting from the spot (0-1). The visitors put themselves in front on the Anexo Juegos Mediterraneos Stadium pitch and were on the verge of doubling their lead, but Pekes' strike grazed the post.
Seeing that the Almeria Academy team were having a hard time fighting the pressure from Jaén, the homegrown players coach introduced Tomás and Juan Gutiérrez and benched Dani Albiar and Aitor Puñal, a double change made to boost the Indalicos offensive options with two forwards placed high upfield. These substitutions turned out to be the best decision ever, since the Uruguayan attacker, who had barely been on the pitch for ten minutes, controlled Pablo Siles’ delivery close to the area and grabbed a leveller with a low driven shot within 85 minutes (1-1).
Almería ‘B’ rescued a massive point to maintain second position even though they could even have won the game, yet Siles had a blocked shot by goalie Ángel de la Calzada all before the full-time whistle.
Match facts:
UD Almería ‘B’: Curro Harillo; Vertiz, Manu Pedre, Ricardo Carvalho, Luna (Jean Marco, 21’); Aitor Puñal (Tomás, 75’), Robles, Dani Albiar (Juan Gutiérrez, 75’), Cristian Olivera (Siles, 56’), Fermín and Jordi Escobar (Caballero, 56’).
Real Jaén CF: Ángel de la Calzada; Adrián Romero, Adolfo, Rafa Navarro, Jesús Cambil, Julio de Dios, Fran Hernández, Charaf (Ezequiel, 67’), Carlos Fernández (Pekes, 67’) and J. Carlos (Montiel, 67’).
Goals: 0-1, 70’: Fran Hernández (pen). 1-1, 85’: Juan Gutiérrez.
Referee: González Sánchez, from the Malaga Referees School. He booked the hosts Ricardo Carvalho, Aitor Puñal and Robles, as well as the visitors Fran Hernández and Rafa Navarro. In addition, he showed a yellow card to Fernando Santos, Almeria ‘B’ head coach.
Observations: Matchday 20. Tercera Division Group IX ‘A’. The match was played behind closed doors at the Anexo Juegos Mediterraneos Stadium.