The Albion Sentinel
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Álvaro López scores twice — 8.83
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad26 Apr 2027
6 saves: Pedro Ramallo was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match24 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Albion do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match24 Apr 2027
Álvaro López the difference as Albion beat Paysandu FC
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Álvaro López. 2‑1 against Paysandu FC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match26 Apr 2027
Albion at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 2, 20 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gastón González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Wages swallow 91% of the Albion income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
A satisfied Joaquin Mendez
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Joaquin Mendez could afford to be generous.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Federico Puente is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
- The dugout When it matters, Agustín Pereira plays
- Squad The weekend belonged to Álvaro López
- Player ratings Federico Puente never got going