That goal SD Huesca longed for and tirelessly sought until the last breath, especially in the latter stages, could not be found. The Azulgranas piled up the goal attempts, but they had to settle for a point against UD Almería at El Alcoraz, in a high-paced encounter with both sides in need of the points. That’s how Xisco’s men outplayed the automatic promotion candidates Almeria side. First-half Ignasi Miquel’s opener for the hosts was cancelled out by Robertone’s equaliser in the 21st. The final whistle would eventually blow on a competitive 1-1 draw. It was a fifth successive match unbeaten at El Alcoraz for the Altoaragoneses, who feel that good vibe around them before the visit to Fuenlabrada next weekend.
SD Huesca got off to a flyer in an energetic first half that saw a spectacular start to the game, with the Oscenses determined to threaten UD Almería since the very first minute. In the 6th, Marc Mateu managed an excellent individual play before providing a cross for Florian Miguel, who brilliantly passed it to the near post from the left. Escriche finished off but skied his effort in what could have been the 1-0. This was going to be the mere prelude to a handful of promising moments, one after another during the first 45. Florian Miguel enjoyed a massive double chance shortly after, when he powerfully volleyed towards goal. Also, a looping shot from Seoane forced Fernando Martínez produce another majestic save to keep the scores at 0-0. Finally, in the 11th came the opener: It was a throw-in for an inch-perfect cross from Gerard Valentín to the box followed by a thumping header by Ignasi Miquel, who burst ahead of the defence to break the deadlock. The goal did not change our gameplan, but Almeria proved their strength with an effort from Robertone that went wide. In the 21st, it was the Argentine again who powered in a header to level matters. The hosts kept trying, and were almost awarded a penalty following a foul on Escriche inside the box, but they saw that superb effort ruled out for what appeared to be a debatable offside of the forward. With no time to catch their breath, it was him – together with Marc Mateu, heavily involved in Huesca’s attacking play this evening – who got the Azulgranas up and running once again. Our no.10 did beat the keeper in a one-on-one, but the flag was raised and VAR confirmed he was marginally offside after the half-hour mark.
Almeria’s intent to produce a reaction after the interval was on display imminently, as the clash became more intense but less energetic. El Alcoraz, which was absolutely bouncing after a fast and furious first half, survived a second-half scare when the dangerous striker Sadiq saw his goal ruled out for offside. Akieme was sent off after 64 minutes for slapping Gerard Valentín in the face on a counter-attack, and the visitors were reduced to 10 men. Xisco made some changes as Joaquín and Poveda came on to replace Gerard and Ratiu. Also, Pablo Martínez and Lago Junior would be introduced later on as well. SD Huesca saw an effort from Poveda fly wide of the post after he had been played a beautifully weighted cross from Marc Mateu on the left flank. With the stakes as high as they were at El Alcoraz, the pressure was mounting as the minutes of such an open game went by. The Azulgranas tried to step up a gear, making the most of their superiority on the pitch, and looked to play from the wings and behind the defence at every opportunity, relying on our powerful forwards. Pablo Martínez headed towards goal following a corner, but he sent it across goal to the top left corner. All this led to an anxious finale that had El Alcoraz crowd biting their nails during the injury time, as the nerve-wracking game it had turned into was impossible to cool down. Visitor Juan Villar was also sent off and so did Xisco Muñoz. Even though, Joaquín enjoyed a last chance, but was unable to come up with the perfect answer to that chaos, and it ended all square between SD Huesca and UD Almería.
