March 4, one of the matches of the 24th round of the Spanish Football Championship was held. They met Almeria (Spain) and Villarreal (Spain).
Spain Championship, Week 24
Almeria (Spain) - Villarreal (Spain) - 0:2 (0:0)
Goals: Gerard Moreno (76), Morales (88)
Warnings: Cesar de la Hoz (14), Chumi (55), J. Foyt (56), Albiol (67), Gerard Moreno (80), Luis Javier Suarez (90+3)
The soccer match between Almeria and Villarreal was a long-awaited clash between two teams of different caliber. The Power Horse stadium, Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, hosted a thrilling encounter in which both teams showed impressive skill throughout the game. The 0-0 halftime score indicated a tense struggle between the two teams. Almeria fought well to keep Villarreal from scoring early in the game. However, Villarreal took the lead in the second half, and in the 76th minute Gerard Moreno opened the scoring with a brilliant strike. Almeria tried hard to level the score, but it was too late, as Villarreal secured the victory with a second goal, scored by J.L. Morales in the 88th minute. The match was marked by a succession of events, yellow cards, substitutions and goals. In the 14th minute, Almeria player C. de la Hoz was yellow carded, setting the tone for the physical struggle. At the beginning of the second half, Almeria made three substitutions, letting in F. Martinez, S. Aquieme and A. Embarba instead of D. Marino, A. Sentelles and S. Costa respectively.
In the 69th minute it was Villarreal's turn to make substitutions, releasing J. Pino and R. Terrats instead of G. Moreno and E. Capue respectively. Almeria's L. Suarez was also replaced in the 70th minute by L. Ramazzani. There were a total of four yellow cards in the match, with Chumi from Almeria and J. Voigt and R. Albiol from Villarreal receiving them in the 55th, 56th and 67th minutes respectively. Villarreal's G. Moreno also received a yellow card in the 80th minute. Finally, Almeria player C. de la Jos received his second yellow card, which led to his suspension and Lazaro took his place in the 79th minute. The match ended 0-2 in favor of Villarreal, with Jose Luis Morales sealing the victory in the final minutes of the game. Another Villarreal striker, Gerard Moreno, was replaced on 69 minutes by A. Pedraza. The last substitutions for Villarreal were S. Chukvueze and A. Baena who came on instead of J. Mojica and G. Lo Celso in the 89th minute. On the whole, the match was exciting, with Villarreal playing with brilliance and defeating a capable Almeria team. The victory allowed Villarreal to maintain its position at the top of the La Liga standings, while Almeria will have to regroup and come back stronger in the next match.
In the next round the following matches await the opponents: Sevilla - Almeria, Villarreal - Betis.
| Almeria | Villarreal | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Goals on goal | 5 |
| 3 | Strokes | 15 |
| 1 | Blocked kicks | 3 |
| 3 | Kicks from the penalty box | 14 |
| 0 | Kicks from behind the penalty box | 1 |
| 10 | Violations | 10 |
| 1 | Corner | 9 |
| 0 | Offsides | 4 |
| 28% | Ball possession | 72% |
| 2 | Yellow cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red cards | 0 |
| 4 | Saves by goalkeeper | 0 |
| 201 | Total assists | 508 |
| 147 | Accurate passes | 460 |
| 73% | Accuracy of transmissions | 91% |