Super Eagles striker Umar Sadiq shackled as Real Madrid silence Almeria on La Liga return

August 19, 2022

Real Madrid ensured they picked all three points at the Estadio del Mediterraneo despite Almeria being in the lead for most of the match.

Led by Nigerian international striker Sadiq, Almeria gave a good account of themselves but their impressive defence could not stop the rampaging Madrid attack.

Umar Sadiq starts for Almeria against Real Madrid

Despite being linked with a transfer away from the club, Almeria named Umar Sadiq in their starting lineup alongside Largie Ramazani in a two-man strike unit.

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It was Sadiq’s strike partner who found the back of the net, getting on the end of Inigo Eguaras’ assist to give Almeria a shock lead over the champions in just the 9th minute.

The Rubi-led Almeria side dug in and defended waves after waves of Madrid’s attack that featured Ballon d’Or nominees Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior as well as Federico Valverde.

Umar Sadiq numbers vs. Real Madrid

The Super Eagles striker led Almeria’s bid to defend from the front, with Umar Sadiq putting more into his defensive contributions than in attack.

The Almeria pointman tallied 13 duels in total (ground and aerial) winning five (5) of them as well as making three (3) clearances as Real Madrid laid siege on the Almeria goal.

From his rare attacking opportunities, the Nigerian international managed one (1) shot on target and another off target, while only one (1) of his three (3) attempted dribbles came off.

Before being substituted for Dyego Sousa in the 70th minute, the Nigerian international picked up a yellow card in the 40th minute as he battled to help Almeria maintain their lead.

Benzema provided substitute Lucas Vazquez with the assist to give Real Madrid the equaliser in the 61st minute while David Alaba needed just one minute after he came on as a substitute to grab the winner for the Los Blancos in the 75th minute.

Real Madrid will be on the road again for their Matchday 2 fixture against Celta Vigo on Saturday, August 20 while Almeria will also visit Elche on Matchday 2 as the 2022/23 La Liga season gets underway.