Zaragoza snatch vital win

Crunch time in the Primera Division as Almeria languish ten points from safety [EPA]

An unlucky own-goal from Almeria goalkeeper Diego Alves pushed Zaragoza one point clear of the relegation zone in Spain’s Primera Division on Monday.

As Spain’s top-flight division gets to the business end of the competition, every point is crucial and Real Zaragoza walked away with all the points after their 1-0 home win over lowly Almeria.

Midfielder Gabi Fernandez’s shot hit the post, bounced off the back of Alves and landed in the back of the net in the 70th minute at La Romareda stadium leaving Almeria 10 points from safety at the bottom of the table.

The hosts earlier had two shots cleared off the goal line and also hit the posts on two occasions.

Zaragoza defender Paulo Da Silva cleared Pablo Piatti’s shot off the line in the 88th to protect Zaragoza’s fourth straight home win.

Sleeping easy

“Tonight we will go to bed and sleep a little more peacefully, nothing more,” Zaragoza coach Javier Aguirre said.

Both teams went into the game on the back of poor runs but the situation was more worrying for bottom side Almeria who had lost their last four games.

Zaragoza were creating the better openings but in-form keeper Alves was blocking everything that came at him.

Braulio Rodriguez and Ander Herrera had several good chances saved by the Brazilian shot stopper.

Angel Lafita then shot weakly with just the keeper to beat and Nicolas Bertolo was denied by the post.

Eventually Zaragoza found the back of the net in the 70th minute but it was thanks to a dose of misfortune that Alves did not deserve.

Almeria almost equalised but Carlos Garcia hit the post and the result means they are now far from safety with five games to go.

Almeria coach Roberto Olabe admitted that his team just had to keep going.

“We have to be professional, honest and be loyal to those who have believed in us,” he said.

“In the first few minutes of the game we were alright but our own desire and the pressure ended up working against us. We didn’t take our time and rushed things.”

With five matches left to play, Almeria have 26 points, 19th-placed Hercules have 33, and 18th-placed Osasuna 35.

Zaragoza climbed out of the relegation positions up to 17th with 36 points, the same as Malaga in 16th.