0-2: Appiah And Villalba inspire Almeria to victory in Zaragoza
The Rojiblancos win a crunch game to close in on automatic promotion. Zaragoza are beaten by Almería on goal average
The UD Almería squad took a huge step forward towards the fight for automatic promotion by overcoming Real Zaragoza in a crunch game in which teamwork and self-confidence were the key to success. The English right-winger Appiah got off the mark and Fran Villalba smashed in the second goal for Almeria against Spanish second-tier runners-up.
On the first day of summer, with a temperature around 30 degrees- the side from Almería went all out for a win, showing from the kick off that they were fully aware of the immense importance of their second away fixture after the coronavirus pandemic. This resulted in goalie Cristian Álvarez pulling off two great saves.
Almería wasted no time in getting off to a great start with a stunning goal. With 11 minutes gone, Arvin Appiah, named in the starting eleven, started having a lot of pace and managed to make it 0-1 thanks to a clinical finish.
In any way, the fact of being in the lead before half-time, the Rojiblancos did not slack off; just the opposite: the team led by José María Gutiérrez starred in a well organised first-half. Real Zaragoza could not exploit half spaces to perform their moves and, furthermore, the Rojiblancos were stronger in one-on-one duels.
During the second-half, the script of the meeting continued leaving UD Almería sticking to their guns in a safe position. The rivals continued without finding their way to make Fernando uncomfortable; not only that, but the Almeria’ squad knew how to double their lead with a goal that sealed their great victory over second-placed Zaragoza. It was in the 68th minute when a counterattack between Valentín Vada and Balliu was executed in a masterful play, which sent the ball into the 18-yard-box helping Fran Villalba scoring the second.
Almeria kept a clean sheet thanks to keeper Fernando’s outstanding display. Therefore, the final whistle led to an outburst of joy on the red and white bench, since bagging the three points allow Almería to close in on automatic promotion and also beating Zaragoza on goal average.