Almeria highest scorer in the La Liga SmartBank, Umar Sadiq put the final seal on why he should be named the division’s best player for the month of January after he scored yet again to lead the Rojiblancos to a 3-1 home win over Castellon for his 11th goal of the season in the league.
Almeria went into the game with Castellon buoyed by their impressive victory over Osasuna which sealed their place in the quarter-final of the Copa del Rey where they will face Sevilla and it was with that they got the curtain-raiser through Jose Corpas from a brilliant Umar’s assist in the 26th minute.
Castellon steadilly grew into the game and equalised through Ruben Diez Adan otherwise called Jamelli in the 61st but the ingenuity of Umar was crucial for Almeria as the Olympics bronze medallist shot his team ahead in the 78th minute before Jorge Cuenca put the game beyond the visitors in the 80th minute.
The ex-AS Roma player scored five league goals and two Copa Del Rey goals from only five matches in all competitions in the month of January including a hat-trick against Ponderradina in Almeria’s first league game of the year on January 3rd. Almeria are third on the log with 45 points from 22 matches.
The Nigerian cumulatively has banged in 11 goals for Almeria in the Segunda alone in 20 games and added two more goals in the Copa del Rey. Also earlier this season, Umar scored six league goals for Partizan Belgrade from 10 matches before his loan move to Almeria was struck in October last year.
Speaking shortly after his latest goal for Almeria Sadiq expressed his resolve to continue working hard until the last game of the season.
“I thank God. I feel great and I am blessed because it has not been easy for me despite scoring seven goals in the last five games. I keep on working and hard work pays,” Sadiq said in an interview made available to www.dasportstainment247.com.
“Let’s see what happens at the end of the season. I can’t predict how far I can reach but I’m grateful to God that everything is going good for me.”
In all, the Kaduna raised striker has netted impressive 19 goals in 35 games in all competitions.
The other two frontrunners for the Segunda Best Player in January 2021 are Sergio Ruiz of Las Palmas and Bernardo Espinosa of Girona.
