The Cartagena team wins in Murcia 15 years later, dreams of becoming a regular champion, leaving ElPozo fourteen points and very moved
The Jimbee Cartagena has taken a load off its shoulders. The Duda-coached team broke a fifteen-year streak without beating ElPozo at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia. A goal by Solano in the 38th minute decided the game in favor of the Cartagena team (1-2), which continues to rise and dreams of becoming champions of the regular season. The meloneros, unbeaten away from home since October, dealt a historic blow in the derby, leaving the eternal rival a whopping 14 points behind. The Butchers, downhill from the Spanish Cup, come out remarkably moved and the ‘play-offs’ presence is a little more complicated.
ElPozo Murcia: Juanjo, Alberto García, Fernando, Marcel and Mati Rosa (first quintet). Felipe Valerio, Rafa Santos, Leo Santana, Matteus and Gadeia also played.
Jimbee Cartagena: Chemi, Bebe, Mellado, Marinovic, Solano (also played). Lucao, Peru, Simi Saiotti, Meira, Jesús and Motta also played.
ElPozo is going through one of the most complex stages of its history. Each time he has less margin to get on the train of the ‘play-offs’ for the league title. The derby darkened the horizon a little more for the butchers, who have added just one point of the last fifteen on the line. Nor does it give the reel, with four goals in all that time. The exact opposite of the Jimbee, who, on the basis of faith, dedication and unity, must face the scourge of injury, row against the tide and, in addition to securing second position, strive to become a regular champion. The meloneros add up to 53 points and the azulgranas 59. There are 9 more on the line, with a direct duel between the two.
What has been achieved in the derby this Sunday fills Cartagena with pride again. It’s not every day that you win your eternal rival at home. Something like this hadn’t happened since May 13, 2007, especially when Tino Pérez’s Polaris World reached it. The challenge has been unlocked by Duda, who coached ElPozo for 17 seasons (between 2001 and 2018) and bagged a whopping 15 titles. His Jimbee has collected eight games in a row without losing, he has only lost once from home, he has made four consecutive visits without losing at the Palau and in November he also defeated Movistar Inter, his other nightmare, fifteen years later.
You have to remember that the Jimbee has accomplished all this in a very difficult season. The club lost its top scorer Waltinho (Sporting Lisbon) and leader Franklin (Kuwait). This course is also haunted every week by injuries. The two top scorers (Javivi and Andresito) are long-term injured, Simi Saiotti has not played a dozen games yet, Drasler fell out of the derby with a sprain and Jesús Izquierdo, Meira and Solano resurfaced this Sunday after overcoming several physical problems.
The latter was cheered by the Cartagena who had been driven to Murcia. Corbo’s centre, moving to Valdepeñas next season, scored the winning goal in the 38th minute, taking advantage of a mistake by Rafa Santos when delivering the ball. Solano lifted his head, adjusted the peephole and scored from his field on an empty goal (1-2). ElPozo was then surrendered to the brave, with more heart than head, seeking a healing victory to clear his dark horizon. He couldn’t, almost out of habit was refused at the door and partly due to a long series of saves by Chemi. The melon defense also did not allow too many permits. For the Jimbee, there was no urgency.
The truth is that ElPozo got off to a good start in the derby. In the 3rd minute Mati Rosa put the leather in the corner of the goal defended by Chemi on half a stroke. Rafa Santos also hit the woodwork, in one of those moves patented by butchers: Juanjo’s long kick, back against the goal and trouble for the Jimbee. More intense, lighter and more dangerous the locals, Alberto García de Vaseline, Marcel and Gadeia shone in serious approaches to Giustozzi’s men. With no luck, the meloneros woke up little by little from that bad time, joined forces and started generating opportunities for Juanjo.
To the extent that ElPozo started the first part well but Jimbee finished it much better. Duda’s men were superior in shots (25), in possession (52%) and also in scoring (0-1). It was on the brink of the holiday when Marinovic grabbed the ball in his area, stepped on the accelerator and stepped in front of Juanjo, who he defeated low in definition on the long post. That success needed by the big dates fell on the Jimbee’s side.
Gadeia, Mati Rosa and Felipe Valerio tried again in the second half, sometimes denied by the visiting defense and especially Chemi. He knew how to get through the Jimbee, warm, orderly and without overexposing himself with the score in favor. Duda’s men held out to the limit, with five transgressions. And with a strategic shot to Meira’s post, they made it 0-2.
ElPozo was about to turn everything upside down. He evened the game in the final minutes thanks to an own goal from Motta and the bet on Marcel as the goalkeeper. The butchers pushed through and went in search of victory despite the draw, with such bad luck that in a bad round the leather fell to Solano, who sent it from his field to the back of the net. Running out of time for more, the locals tried until the end with shots from Fernando, Gadeia and Felipe Valerio.
Chemi answered them all. The goalkeeper from Mazarrón has become one of the heroes of this season. The Jimbee is running out of gas and has long since stopped averaging four goals per game. Instead, it draws courage, faith, and defensive devotion. Also the necessary success. Patching and paddling against the tide, he continues to get results to finish second and dreams of reaching Barcelona. It won’t be easy, but for now, he’s still in the fight. ElPozo, with the ball of the game in Valdepeñas, has to do a reflection exercise, get a ticket for the ‘play-off’ and come out in the last big event of the season: the league title.
Quite different sensations are those perceived after the final whistle of the match. In the evaluative press conferences, both Duda and Vinicius, Giustozzi’s second, emphasized the “equality” of the derby and the importance of “key moments” for the scoreboard to move to one side or the other. The Jimbee coach emphasized the “success” and competitive soul of his team, while warning on the deli side there is “little margin of error” to contest the “play-offs” for the league title.
“We have a lot of risk of not getting into the ‘play-offs’. That’s what hurts us the most right now. The feeling is that I feel like I’m giving up, making no mistakes, being right… A lot of times that eats your head, makes you a bit overwhelmed and makes decisions without the peace of mind you could have if the situation were different’, Vinicius appreciated, who made an appeal to get out of this situation.
Vinicius also noted that it was an “equals” derby, in which “they played well after the break and with many affected players, such as Marcel, Fernan and Mati Rosa. They have had more success, especially at the key moment of the game.
Duda, for his part, understood that it was a “very even” match, in which ElPozo was “much superior in the first few minutes”. Marinovic’s goal [al borde del descanso] it was very important to us. Success is always decisive. The pressure was greater for them in the second part, where we came in better,” he said.
The Jimbee coach acknowledged that “the mistakes” conditioned the defense exercise of the last minutes and that the ElPozo goalkeeper player’s defense remained “without experts” on the court. “It is a victory of faith, desire and illusion. I am very proud of my team, of all the values they have put on track to emerge as the winner fifteen years later». Duda also highlighted Chemi’s “spectacular” performance under the sticks.
Source: La Verdad
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