Neither the heat nor the humidity were an excuse for a Real Oviedo side which competed from start to finish and took a point home from Almería.
The first setback for Juan Antonio Anquela arrived before kick-off, as he was forced to introduce Johannesson in place of Aarón, who had suffered an injury during the warmup. Real Oviedo started the match strongly, and created the first two chances, with both falling to Johannesson. First a cross played in by Saúl was claimed by the gloves of René, before
Johannesson’s shot from a Toché pass was again denied by the home goalkeeper. Toché himself had the next chance, beating the two centre backs to a long pass from Saúl, but firing wide under pressure. Juan Carlos had to intervene to deny a fine shot from the edge of the box, with the half drawing to a close without further chances.
Moving into the second half, and with no changes to either side, signs of tiredness began to appear due to the heat. However, Saúl Berjón managed to break the deadlock with a lovely goal. After receiving Toché’s pass, Real Oviedo’s top scorer managed to get just enough on the ball to lift it over René. Saúl went close to doubling the lead in the very next move, but he didn’t quite connect with his flick inside the six-yard box. However, the joy and Anquela’s side’s lead was short-lived, with Almería drawing level three minutes later. Pozzo hit a screamer that was unstoppable for Juan Carlos. Even so, and after a few minutes in which the home side gained control of possession, Real Oviedo defended seriously and worked hard so that Almería’s attacks went unrewarded. In the final stages Real Oviedo had their best chances, following some substitutions from Anquela. A great
strike from Saúl Berjón was heading towards the top corner before a fine save from René. Toché had the final chance, but the home keeper denied him once more.
The game ended with the points being shared, but a good Real Oviedo performance saw them only a bit of luck away from their first victory of the season.
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