An ineffective Castellón cannot beat Almería and the pass to the promotion playoff final will be decided in the second leg

Castellón failed to capitalize on their superiority at the Castalia stadium against Almería to take a good advantage for the second leg of the promotion playoff semifinals to Primera División at the UD Almería Stadium. The lack of attacking accuracy from the orellut team contrasted with the effectiveness of the Indálico team and the presence of their talisman: Sergio Arribas. The 15 shots from the home team compared to four from the visitors concluded with a 1-1 draw after Brignani’s initial goal was equalized by Arribas in the second half. The work is left for the return leg.

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The two teams arrived at the semifinal with completely opposite dynamics and feelings. And in a promotion playoff, this takes on even greater importance. Castellón had won two of their last three matches and drawn one. Almería, who struggled immensely at home to beat a Valladolid team with nothing to play for, was at times out of the promotion race and won 1-0 with a penalty goal. They also arrived after losing to Sporting and Las Palmas.

However, Castellón does not have two very important figures for the playoff, Cipenga and Mabil, both called up by their national teams to play in the World Cup. This already took its toll on the Indálico team last season against Oviedo when they could not have their two most important players due to international commitments: Luis Suárez —top scorer last season in Segunda and this year in the Portuguese League with Sporting de Portugal— and Marc Pubill —now at Atlético and called up for the World Cup—.

The start of the match was energetic from Castellón, who went for the game from the referee’s whistle. The home team’s control was absolute against a Rubi approach that had already cost them a 2-0 defeat in the League. The Almería team was bailing water with the solidity of Ely and Bonini. Jakobsen and Pablo Santiago besieged the wings, repeatedly facing Alex Muñoz and Chirino, who were constantly outplayed. The first orellut chance came in the 18th minute. In a very serious error by Ely under pressure from Calatrava, the Spaniard stole the ball and gave it to Camara, who, face-to-face with Andrés Fernández, shot with his left foot, and the goalkeeper made a great save down low to prevent the goal.

Rubi’s team seemed to react, seeing that being locked back would only lead to suffering, and took a small step forward to apply timid pressure that barely helped them cut off plays repeatedly. The game then got bogged down with constant interruptions in a first half that ended with 17 fouls and five yellow cards. But Castellón was the only one proposing in attack and came close to scoring again with a beautiful individual play by Calatrava that ended with a back pass and a shot wide by Pablo Santiago, who finished alone at the penalty spot against the red-and-white defensive passivity.

That passivity was what Castellón took advantage of just before halftime. From a corner kick, a scramble formed in the area, and Brignani, amidst a tangle of legs, used a backheel from a few meters out to put Pablo Hernández’s team ahead, a goal they deserved.

The tide did not turn in the first few minutes after the break, with Almería still defending deep. It wasn’t until 55 minutes after the initial whistle that Lopy decided to appear to give the team some control. The forces equalized, and reactions began to come from the bench. Rubi brought on Melamed, who, five minutes after stepping onto the pitch, orchestrated a play that ended with a precise cross from Embarba, and Arribas, the league’s top scorer, with a great subtle touch with his right foot, sent the ball across to the far post to beat Matthys and equalize the tie.

Castellón tried to react by storming into attack, but a more organized and forceful Almería managed to contain the orellut onslaughts, whose inefficiency took its toll. Everything remains to be decided at the UD Almería Stadium, where, in addition to playing at home, a draw in 120 minutes in case of extra time would be enough for Almería to reach the final due to their third-place finish in the league.

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