Alaves defeat La Coruña 1-0

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A spectacular goal by Alaves striker Munir El Haddadi extended the so-called Abelardo effect to defeat La Coruna 1-0 here.

The Moroccan-Spanish forward scored once in the second half, enough for coach Abelardo Fernandez's team to down La Coruña and take home three points on Saturday, reports Efe news.

After a close first half, Alaves took control of the game, not giving any goal opportunities to the Galician team, which has yet to win a match despite signing up Clarence Seedorf as its new coach.

From the start, Alaves applied more pressure than the visiting team and had its first chance to score three minutes into the match with a header by Victor Laguardia off a corner kick by Ibai Gomez. Close, but no goal.

Three minutes later, having everything in his favor, Ruben Duarte missed a good chance when his shot from the goal area hit the post.

At minute 11, La Coruña came around as Ruben Albentosa was about to score the first goal with a shot from within the penalty area, only to be deflected by a timely Rodrigo Ely.

Seedorf's team struck fear into the hearts of Alaves fans in Medizorroza stadium at minute 17 with a counterattack and a shot that bounced off the corner of the goalmouth.

The home team did not break down and tried to regain the upper hand, though the rest of the first half lost its intensity.

Alaves started off the second half strong, with a header by Manu García off a corner kick at minute 49, which ended up in the hands of the Galician keeper.

Several chances opened up for Alfonso Pedraza and Tomas Pina, but none came to fruition.

The prize for persistence came in minute 60, with a left-footed shot by Munir from outside the penalty area into the upper-right corner of the goal.

After the winning score, the match was mainly played at midfield, with only Alaves managing to get near the opposing goal.

--IANS

sam/ksk