1-1: UD Almería battle hard against UD Las Palmas for a share of spoils
The first well-earned point of 2022 comes after the remarkable effort made by the Rojiblancos. Appiah grabs the second-half equaliser
The UD Almería collected a well-earned point for the first time since the beginning of the year 2022 thanks to the remarkable effort made against tough UD Las Palmas. After shaking off the initial pressure, the Indalicos dictated the play with a series of attacks and missed the opportunity of getting ahead. The hosts hit on the counter first before the break after taking advantage of that error, but Appiah equalised in the second half. With scores level at 1-1, both sides rued missed chances. UD Almeria remain LaLiga SmartBank leaders despite the draw with a game in hand against CD Lugo which is going to be played on Wednesday, 19th January.
New faces were back into the fold and head coach Rubi picked out the following team line-up: Fernando; Aitor Buñuel, Chumi, Babić, Akieme, César de la Hoz, Samú, Robertone, Pozo, Appiah and Ramazani. However, there are still numerous absentees so some footballers played in a different position than usual; for instance, Largie Ramazani operated as a ‘'false 9'.
It was a spirited first half in which although UD Las Palmas were dominating in the first minutes, both teams fashioned clear sights at goal. The visitors were on fire during the first 30 minutes and Ramazani sent the first warning from the edge of the box that led to a corner-kick after hitting a defender. It was in the 33rd minute when the Belgian missed the biggest chance of the clash. The pacy player stole the ball, found himself alone in front of the goal and tried to dribble past a defender who blocked his fine attempt effectively. UD Almeria could have opened the scoring in style but shortly after, Jonathan Viera scored the opener to go into half-time leading on the island (1-0).
Rubi's contenders were trailing when they were being superior and that is why in the second period, they showed burning ambition and managed to draw level soon. With 50 minutes on the clock, Pozo believed in himself to win a duel with Cardona, took the ball in control, drove down the right wing and his reverse pass found Arvin Appiah just on time, whose strike from the edge of the area beat goalie Raúl. The two teams were on level terms (1-1).
It was all square at 1-1 when Centelles was brought on to advance Akieme's spot. These link-up duo were about to break the deadlock following a breakaway and consequent chance that the Canarian keeper denied.
From that moment until the end, a highly competitive game with plenty of end-to-end activity saw the islanders and the Andalusians battle out a 1-1 draw. Well, there was time for one more chance that was spurned by sub Curro who did his best to take 3 points home.
To cut a long story short, slick UD Almería shared the spoils with tough UD Las Palmas at the Gran Canaria stadium. It is the first well-deserved point of 2022 that comes amid Covid-19 outbreak and some injuries within a squad with hard-working members that always stick together and never give up.