Gangling forward Umar Sadiq was subbed on in the 84th minute for Almeria who sealed their play-offs spot with a 2-0 defeat of Sporting Gijon at Estadio El Molinón on Sunday evening.
It was the fifth time in 38 games and first since December that the Nigerian would be subbed on in a Spanish Segunda Division game as Almeria await the draw for the four-team Play-offs which start on Wednesday.
Sadiq scored 20 times in 38 games in the regular season to emerge the club’s top scorer this term and all-time and Almeria will be banking on his goals in the play-offs to secure promotion to the LaLiga Santander.
While Sadiq was subbed on, defender Kenneth Omeruo was expectedly absent due to injury. The Super Eagles defender is yet to recover from the injury he copped in Leganes’ 1-1 draw away at Rayo Vallecano at the start of this month.
Without the Nigerian Leganes pounded their host Real Zaragoza 5-0 at the Estadio La Romareda to finish third on goal difference ahead of Almeria with 73 points and a place in the play-offs.
Omeruo has featured just 24 times for the Madrid-based club who will be hoping their prized asset returns for the play-offs as they seek instant return to the LaLiga following their relegation last term.
While Sadiq and Omeruo are still locked in promotion battle, the duo of Kelechi Nwakali and Ramon Azeez helped their respective clubs, Alcoron and Cartegena escape relegation.
Nwakali was on from the start for the 17th time in 17 games as Alcoron pipped Espanyol 1-0 to finish 17th on the log with 48 points, two above the drop zone.
The former Golden Eaglets captain who joined the club on loan from now relegated LaLiga side, SD Huesca scored four times in the 17 games he played.
Azeez was an unused substitute for the second consecutive game as Cartegena played out a 1-1 draw against visiting Girona to finish one point and one place above Alcoron.
The former Nigeria junior international made only nine starts in the 16 appearances he made for the club following his loan move from LaLiga side, Granada in February.