1-1: Sporting de Gijón hit back to deny UD Almería victory on the road

UD Almería extend their winless streak to 6 games although the one-all draw with Real Sporting de Gijón at the El Molinón-Enrique Castro 'Quini' stadium must be taken as a positive result despite not being good enough for the Rojiblancos' aspirations. After two defeats on the trot in Albacete and La Coruña, in Gijón they did compete, they regained momentum and they deserved the victory. Luis Suárez opened the scoring (0-1) shortly before half-time, then the home side cancelled their opening goal out with a penalty, Kaiky was sent off in the 81st minute and in the 90th minute, the Colombian let an opportunity slip through his fingers.

 

After 5 back-to-back fixtures without winning and having conceded 5 goals in the last 2 outings, Rubi chose to become stronger at the back and grow from that security that the team had not had. The head coach opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation with important new faces.

 

Radovanovic formed the centre of the defence alongside with Edgar, and Bruno Langa was placed on the left wing with Alex Centelles in front of him. Between the defence and the midfield, Kaiky, reinforcing an area that had no gaps. That role of the Brazilian and the presence of Lopy, who returned to the starting line-up, gave Robertone more freedom in attack. Sporting, who were forced to go all out to try to reach the VIP positions, jumped onto the pitch with grit and determination, but UD Almería knew how to keep them under control with good defensive display. As the minutes went by, the hosts intensified their dominance and created greater danger, making the Indálico squad that remained strong at the back suffer, although without being able to prevent the continuous attacks of their adversaries. Rubi's team knew how to hold on and denied the Asturianos' attempts well. 

 

Then, UD Almería began to show their weapons in attack. With 24 minutes gone,  Robertone hit the crossbar and in the 29th minute a cross from the Argentinean was finished off at the far post by Luis Suárez, with the Real Sporting goalkeeper taking the ball from the same goal line. They had waited for their time to shine and UD Almería took advantage of it, opening the scoring on 43 minutes. Robertone put pressure on the goalie with courage, the ball was loose in the box and Suárez, very timely, sent the ball into the back of the net. With this result the interval arrived (0-1).

 

After the game restart, it was UD Almería who looked more optimistic and bossed things showing off their potential. In fact, they did not experience any issues at the back, they had more ball possession and made their presence felt in the final third with some fearsome attacking plays. The team members were organised on the lawn, however in the 59th minute, opponent Caicedo equalised from 12 yards a penalty committed by Kaiky on Dubasin. It was all square (1-1) when the Indálicos were at their electric best, but they were taken aback by that solo play engineered by the Sporting attacker. 

 

The situation obviously changed. The Asturianos with the cheering of their 20,000 fans in the El Molinón stands came out on top and Rubi's men once again had to put tons of work defending, although they did not want to undo all the good work they had done. The Rojiblancos trusted in their possibilities, in the football that led them to top the lead a few weeks ago and if the chances followed one another, the clearest were for the guests. With 66 minutes on the clock, Kaiky sent a shot to the woodwork after a foul by Centelles, and in the 73rd minute a goal from Pozo, who had just been brought in, was disallowed due to Luis Suárez's previous offside. Anything could happen because both outfits were eager to win.

 

In the 81st minute, the match official made a controversial decision and Kaiky received his marching orders with the second yellow card in a play in front of him that he allowed to continue without whistling, but the fourth official warned him of a foul and a caution. UD Almería were reduced to 10, so the share of the spoils had to be considered good, although Luis Suárez, in the 90th minute, was close to breaking the deadlock. What a shame!