2-1: Debutant Samú Costa shines while Petrovic shows his character
Satisfactory result for Almería in a friendly game of four halves. In addition to the defensive midfielder Portuguese, Aketxe and Makaridze also made their debut
This time, Almería's new pre-season friendly match took place against Badajoz, Segunda Division B (third-tier in Spanish football), in a 110-minute game of four halves of 30, 25, 30 and 25 minutes, respectively. What is the reason behind? Once the morning match scheduled against Marbella was suspended following two Marbella players testing positive for Covid-19, this formula was chosen to distribute the playing time among the Rojiblancos as the head coach, José Gomes had planned.
Three of the latest signings debuted; the most recent goalie Makaridze, Aketxe and the 19-year-old Portuguese Samu Costa played throughout the first two ‘quarters’ with a really brilliant display on the field of play. In fact, he took the leading role in midfield, both defensively and offensively. He showed his colours, put all his energy into the game, competed outstandingly, practised his great virtues and provided an ingenious assist to help Rubén Enri score the opener making it 0-1. Up to five Almeria B players performed over the course of these first two quarters along with the aforementioned Samú Costa and Aketxe, who was mainly playing as a right attacking midfielder.
The most regular footballers of last season as well as new arrival Ramazani were in action during the last two quarters. Petrovic stood out showing his extraordinary footie skills and he was the engine room bringing ingenuity and energy to the squad. The Rojiblancos gained momentum, as they did so against Cádiz, showed signs of their potential playing style getting the ball under control through and through. They kept possession, maintained fluidity in their game, attacked with inverted wingers and the left/right-backs turned into wingers...permitting effective tactical plays, still in need to brushed up.
In the last two quarters, with those regular ones, the side played way better. Meanwhile, they were truly consistent, since during the first two, the team led by Pedro Munitis had more chances as they competed brightly and were undeniably an excellent ‘sparring’.
Homegrown player Rubén Enri made it 1-0 with a header, after Samú Costa also headed a cross from the left flank to the far post. Badajoz found the equaliser in the end, although Jonathan Silva, after 77 minutes, would make it 2-1. The Rojiblancos could have found the net more times as they created more chances.
UD Almería: Lluís Tarrés (Giorgi Makaridze, minute 30); Romera, Peybernes, Juan Ibiza, Fermín; Sergio Aguza, Samú Costa; Davi Albiar (Lazo, minute 55), Javi Robles, Aketxe; and Rubén Enri. In the third and fourth halves Fernando, Balliu, Maras, Iván Martos, Jonatan Silva; César de la Hoz, Petrovic; Corpas, Lazo, Fran Villalba; and Ramazani played.
CD Badajoz: Kike Royo, Aitor Pascual, Tomás Sánchez, Iván Casado, César Morgado, Sergi Maestre, David Concha, Ernest Forgás, Otegui, Dani Aquino and Jesús Clemente. Salvi, Dani Fernández, Guzmán, Gorka Santamaría, Manu Cedenilla, Diego Barri, Pablo Vázquez, Armenteros, Alex Corredera, Iñigo and Luismi also played.
Referee: Juan Peña, from the Andalusian referees committee.
Goals: 1-0 (Minute 11). Rubén Enri, scored with a header. 1-1 (Minute 34). Dani Aquino, takes advantage of a defensive error. 2-1 (Minute 77) Jonathan Silva kicked the ball from outside the area.
Observations: Almería's fourth pre-season friendly, played at Marbella Football Center. The meeting was divided into four halves of 30, 25, 30 and 25 minutes respectively.