3-1: An unrecognisable UD Almería in La Coruña

UD Almería suffered a harsh punishment at the Abanca-Riazor Stadium where Deportivo de La Coruña dominated them in the first half, which ended with the Rojiblancos trailing 3-0. UD Almería were unrecognisable, although later, in the second 45 minutes, they tried the impossible. Rubi commented on the pre-Dépor press conference that the players were aware that the moments of truth had come. They are still in the race for promotion though. It has been 4 games without a triumph, with two away defeats and as many draws on home turf against direct rivals... And next Monday, 17th February, Elche CF visit the UD Almería Stadium. 

 

The first halves are obviously not going well for UD Almería and in La Coruña they cranked up the pressure from the off with intensity... So much so that one minute into the game, Luis Suárez almost won the ball back from the home team. But it was only a mirage because the Indálicos were soon overwhelmed by a vertical, fast and aggressive Deportivo de La Coruña, who put the game to bed in 12 minutes with 3 goals. In the 19th minute, things began to get worse since Zakaria, one of Dépor's January transfer window signings, opened the scoring 1-0 with a shot close to the post; a very controversial play reviewed by the VAR for possible offside that was not confirmed. 

 

The Rojiblancos broke down and were outclassed by the Galicians. Yeremay, in the 26th minute, doubled their lead 2-0. He went to the goal line, practically, and made the most of a slip by Edgar to stand in front of Maximiano and beat him. Shortly within 31 minutes, Mella was looking for the best position to cross in from the edge of the area away from the reach of UD Almería's Portuguese keeper. It was 3-0. There were three setbacks that took it's toll on a UD Almeria squad that had chances, but without effectiveness. They were completely opposite to each other in every way.

 

Rubi had made some changes to the starting XI, especially up front, since behind Luis Suárez he put a line of three with Léo Baptistão on the right, Nico Melamed in the centre and Lázaro on the left, but he had no power in attack. Despite this, the same line-up remained after half-time. 

 

UD Almería, as it could not be otherwise, pushed hard trying to get into the game, yet despite bossing for some minutes and taking the initiative, they could not find a way to overcome Deportivo. It was not a good day at the office for the guests up North. 

 

A couple of minutes after the restart, Ximo Navarro took the ball away from Luis Suárez when he was about to shoot at goal. Then, Baptistão put it on a plate for team-mate Lázaro, but he failed to control the ball when he found himself alone in front of the hosts goalie. With 65 minutes in the clock, Arnau crashed into Dépor's goalkeeper... 

 

The Catalan winger had just replaced Léo Baptistão; Arribas came on for Nico Melamed and Melero for Robertone. Three changes to try to change the situation, but it was impossible. In addition, the Indálicos had to be careful with the Galicians' counter-attacks. Yeremay squandered a chance that could have ended up in the fourth goal for the home side, although Edgar avoided it on the same goal line. 

 

Rubi's team kept trying again and again, they created some dangerous situations, but their pinpoint accuracy was not as usual, far from it. Quite the opposite, apart from the fact that the hosts goalkeeper was also a titan between the sticks. In the last play of the match, Luis Suárez, in one of the numerous attempts, did manage to beat the Dépor keeper with a consolation goal (3-1).