2-1: Almería lose in stoppage time following controversial refereeing
Sadiq’s second is controversially overturned by VAR and the ref calls a dubious foul that leads to 2-1. The team still sit third
Another game played by UD Almería sparked off great controversy yet again, with the referee ruling having a negative impact on the Rojiblancos result, diminishing their chances of victory. After taking the lead through Sadiq Umar, Leganés made things difficult to the point of levelling the scoring. It was then when the Nigerian could have made it 1-2, but his second goal was controversially ruled out by VAR. In injury time, the match official called a dubious foul on Omerou.
José Gomes introduced eleven starters completely different from those who played against Las Palmas: Fernando; Aitor Buñuel, Morlanes, César de la Hoz, Chumi, Petrovic, Centelles, Corpas, Carvalho, Ramazani and Sadiq.
Having started the better side, spirited Almeria managed to take the lead on 7 minutes through Sadiq Umar. The Nigerian centre-forward took the ball off a defender’s mistake, drove it a few yards into the box to fire home (0-1).
From that moment on, both teams were evenly matched. Leganés looked for scoring opportunities but a great goalline clearance from João Carvalho prevented the Madrileños from equalising. The man in black blew for half-time with the Rojiblancos topping the second-tier table.
The hosts equalised right after the restart. Borja Bastón bulleted a header coming from a cross to draw level after beating Fernando. At one stage it looked as though Almeria were going to be the new runners-up in the competition instead (1-1). It was time to score the second at the Butarque Stadium. Petrovic, Centelles and Ramazani were benched and despite the introduction of Akieme, Lazo and Ivanildo, Jose Gomes’ men were unable to secure a win.
It seemed that the substitutions did well as Almería were gaining momentum. Their efforts were being denied when suddenly, Sadiq Umar put Almería in front again. For some inexplicable reason, after VAR review, the referee decided to controversially disallow the goal, claiming a completely non-existent attacker's handball. It was dubious decision in spite of the fact that the absence of foul was obvious.
The clock was ticking away with Brian Rodríguez having enough time to make his debut. The Uruguayan entered the pitch after 83 minutes determined to provide a handful upfront. In stoppage time, the man in black called a dubious foul in favour of the home team. Leganés did not settle for a share of the spoils and Omerou was in charge of putting Fernando to the test breaking the deadlock (2-1).
While the final whistle helped the opponents rose up to fourth place, UD Almería remain sitting third, two points behind the leaders of the pack wondering why another goal was inexplicably overturned.