Almería 1 - Betis 0

Almería: Diego Alvés; Bruno, Carlos García, Pellerano, Mané; Julio Alvarez (Chico 90'), Soriano; Juanma Ortíz, Corona (Kalu Uche 60'), Crusat (Piatti 68'); Negredo. 4-2-3-1.
Betis: Casto; Nelson, Juanito, Arzu, Fernando Vega; Mehmet Aurelio; Damià (Pavone 53'), Emaná, Capi, Juanma (Xisco 46'); Sergio García. 4-1-4-1.

Team changes: Almería: Pellerano, Soriano, Crusat for Acasiete, Juanito, Piatti / Betis: Mehmet Aurelio, Emaná, Capi for Melli, Juande, Rivera .

Goals:
1-0. 35. Corona. Long free kick which bounced past everybody in to net.

Yellow cards: Mané 24', Capi 31', Carlos García 42' / red cards: Kalu Uche 87', Sergio García 92'.

A good start for Almería's new coach Hugo Sánchez, his side beating regional rivals Betis 1-0 to move away from the danger zone. Negredo steered a shot wide before Corona opened the scoring with a long free kick which bounced past the unsighted Casto in to the net. But after that the locals had to hang on as the visitors dominated the second half.

Within minutes of the restart Sergio García rattled the crossbar, and Emaná fired another shot wide before he too hit the bar with a long free kick. Crusat shot wide and Julio Alvarez headed in to the hands of the keeper at the other end, but Emaná and Sergio García both failed to convert chances later on.

In the last few minutes both sides had a man sent off, Kalu Uche for catching Mehmet Aurelio with an elbow and Sergio García for bringing down Ortíz as he advanced on goal. It had no influence on the result though, and Hugo had ended a run of five games without a win at the first attempt, albeit with more than a little luck.