Sport » Soccer » General
Spoils Shared As Elche Stay In Touch
Rick Wills / 2005-11-21 14:18:58
Alter a difficult week for the club, Elche faced Almeria needing to put on a good performance for their manager and their supporters. Almeria were in 4th place in the league going into the game and one could have expected them to provide stiff opposition, but they appeared to have decided that a draw would be a good result and offered little threat to the home team. Unfortunately it made for a pretty dull match as Elche struggled to find a way through a packed defence and although they played with plenty of verve there was precious little imagination to go with it.
Mario was dropped to the bench (by order of the President?) and replaced at right back by Txiki. Unfortunately his long lay off through injury has done nothing to improve him as a full back and he provided Almeria with the few opportunities they had by constantly drifting out of position, so allowing the opposition the freedom of the left side to attack along. He seemed to think that if he stopped and raised his arm the linesman would give an offside decision and on half a dozen occasions was proved wrong. Still, he did make a pass to one of his own team on one occasion, although he didn't register a successful tackle during the game. To be fair, his falling over while clutching his face has improved immensely!
Raúl Martin was brought in to replace Peragon while Trotta finally got a game in place of the suspended Benja and showed what a difference he makes at centre back with an assured performance.
The first chance of the game fell to Alberto who was provided with a clear shooting chance by a slick move down the right, but his tame shot rolled into the arms of Valerio. Raúl Martin was having a good game down the right and his cross caused some chaos in the Almeria goalmouth before being finally cleared. Then he stole a ball in midfield and advanced purposefully before unleashing a powerful shot which just skimmed the bar.
The biggest shock of the night was when a lucky rebound fell to the usually lethal Frankowski, only for him to blaze his shot high over the bar from an acute angle. Another measured cross from Martin found the head of Alberto 6 yards out, but his lack of height meant he was always stretching to control the header which went harmlessly over the bar.
The second half was only a few minutes old when Nino received a pass 20 yards out and struck a ferocious left foot shot that travelled like an exocet with the goalkeeper nowhere, but unfortunately went just the wrong side of the upright. One of Txiki's aberrations let in Ortiz who spurned the chance by dragging his shot wide when he should have done better. Cachorro and Rubén came on in place of Alfredo and the ineffective Alberto, whose performance was one he will choose to forget.
After 23 minutes Marti met a corner with a solid header which was cleared off the line. The final chance fell to the visitors when Villesca was granted all the space he wanted down the left while Txiki was off on walkabout. His near post cross was glanced toward goal from close range by Francisco, but Unanua was well positioned and beat it away to safety.
All in all it was not a night to remember for the disappointly small number of spectators and we shall have to wait and see if the point is enough to keep Uribe in his job.
Elche 0 - 0 Almeria
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