3-1: UD Almería clinch first victory of 2023 to cap off first half of season on a high
Luis Suárez got off the mark, Baptistão scored off a rebound in style and Portillo fired emphatically past the keeper to earn 3 massive points against RCD Espanyol de Barcelona
UD Almería clinched their first victory of 2023 before reaching the halfway point of the season as they dominated RCD Espanyol de Barcelona from the start to finish. The fans swooned with delight in the stands at the Power Horse Stadium Espanyol since UD Almeria raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to Luis Suarez's great first-half opener and second-half goals from Baptistão and Portillo. They could have netted even more if it wasn't for the great saves by the visiting goalkeeper. When the encounter was heading towards the end, opponent Joselu scored a consolation goal for the Pericos to make it 3-1. UD Almeria capped off the first half of the season with 22 points...massive thumbs up for the Rojiblancos!
There were five changes to the side that took on Valencia CF last Monday: Babic, Pozo, De la Hoz, Luis Suárez and Ramazani replaced Chumi, Mendes, Samú Costa and El Bilal Touré. This was the first fixture in which the Colombian debuted playing the No.9 role.
UD Almería came flying out of the traps with pure quality on the ball, looking to exploit half spaces and shooting at goal without lacking in goal-scoring threat. The players and head coach Rubi, who was the one who asked his side for that fierce intensity, set out their stall to grab the three vital points.
In the 13th minute, Embarba spurned a chance after dribbling past some defenders who got in his way and his powerful shot taken with his right leg put goalie Álvaro Fernández’s reflexes to the test. A couple of minutes later, Akieme had the option of putting the Indalicos ahead, the left-back ended up booting a dead-ball within the box that made the Pericos goalkeeper make another great save. The clock ticked down with UD Almería bossing the ball and inside 20 minutes, the well-deserved prize arrived. The Embarba-Luis Suarez link-up duo paid off; The winger went down the wing, reached the penalty area, crossed for the Colombian, who cleverly hooked a volley into the back of the net getting off the mark and opening the scoring (1-0).
Half an hour into the match, the home team continued to create threatening situations. Adrián Embarba, who was putting on a brilliant attacking display, had his assist already produced but was eager to double his side’s lead. It was UD Almería who were designing all the effective football plays and when the game was about to reach half-time, Fernando blocked a strike from Aleix Vidal.
The second period kicked off with a little less intensity than the first, yet in the 60th minute, keeper Alvaro Fernandez spilled the ball to deny Luis Suarez’s fine attempt, in no time at all, Embarba failed to score the first rebound and as the saying goes, the third time's the charm, Leo Baptistão scored off a rebound inside the six-yard box (2-0).
This would not be the last time the Power Horse Stadium roared since the Indálicos continued to engineer chances and after 76 minutes, the third goal was superbly-taken by Portillo, who scored for the second consecutive game after a superb assist from Melero, UD Almería seemed to be at their masterful best and the crowd did a Mexican wave when the match went into stoppage time. With 93 minutes gone, Joselu scored a consolation goal from Rubén's cross to make it 3-1 before switching the stadium lights off.
UD Almería achieved their 6th victory at home to become the third team with the best home form and collect a total of 22 points to cap off the first half of the season sitting 11th with great vibes ahead of the reverse fixtures.
