Almería avoid 32-game losing record with long-awaited win

LaLiga side Almería avoided equalling Derby County‘s infamous 32-match winless streak as they finally secured their first win of the season by beating Las Palmas 1-0 on Sunday.

Léo Baptistão scored the only goal of the game to snap Almería’s 31-game wait for a victory in the league in new coach Pepe Mel’s first fixture in charge of the team.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Mel became Almería’s third permanent manager of the season last week when he replaced Gaizka Garitano, who had taken over after just seven games when the Spanish club fired Vicente Moreno.

Despite beating Las Palmas, Almería remain bottom of the table and are 14 points from safety with just nine games to go in the Primera División.

Derby set the record for consecutive games without a win in Europe’s top five leagues in the 2007-08 season.

Prior to Sunday, Almería’s previous LaLiga win was last season when they beat Mallorca 3-0 in May.

That victory was followed by three winless matches to end the campaign as they secured their top flight survival on the final weekend of the season courtesy of a 3-3 draw at Espanyol.

Following a 2-2 draw with Sevilla last week, Almería’s winless run stretched to 31 games and a failure to win away at Las Palmas on Sunday would have seen them match Derby’s 16-year-old record.

Performances have often been better than results suggest — Real Madrid and Barcelona both needed late goals to beat them, while they drew 2-2 with Atlético Madrid recently — but that first win continued to elude them through a remarkable 28 games this campaign.

They had already broken various records in LaLiga, including Levante’s 30-game streak without a win between April 2021 and January 2022.

Sporting Gijón, meanwhile, previously held the record for games without a victory at the start of the season, 24 in 1997-98, a mark Almería passed weeks ago.

That Sporting side also holds the LaLiga record for the fewest points obtained in a top-flight season since three points were introduced, with 13.

Almería’s win at the weekend moved them on to 13 points, level with Sporting and two clear of the 11 Derby won in 07-08, which is the lowest tally in Europe’s top five leagues in the three-point era.

Derby’s 32-game winless run only actually ended because they were relegated from the Premier League. They have not returned to the top flight of English football since, so that run could technically continue in the future.