Míchel’s team, with the main new feature in the 11 being the presence of Jony and homegrown player, Ontiveros on the wings, as well as the return of Ricca on the left, began by dominating the wide area, with Fornals at the helm. Indeed, the first dangerous shot of the match came from the Blue and Whites’ number ‘31’, on the edge of Valencia’s area, in minute 9. Ontiveros, with another long shot, tried his luck in the 16th minute.
Valencia tried to contain, guarded in their own field of play, the clear Malaguista domination. The first appearance by Voro’s men arrived in minute 22 on the left of the attack, with a toxic shot from Munir that couldn’t find a finisher. Málaga deserved to score, and the opening goal was made in the Academy. Ontiveros, with a perfect shot from the left, assisted Recio who provided an unforgiving header into the back of the net (1-0, 36’).
Immediately thereafter, MCF increased their lead. A free kick from Sandro, which after a deflection from the wall and an extension by Ricca, saw the striker appear again, powering the ball into the net, clashing with a defender and preventing the arrival of Alves (2-0, 40’). This is the ‘pichichi’s’ 10th LaLiga goal. Before half-time, in minute 44’, Jony came close to a third goal with a rapid counter-attack. In addition, Sandro, in extra time, narrowly missed another goal with a spectacular counter-attack.
In the second half, the picture didn’t change too much, with an ambitious Málaga maintaining possession, and showing intensity without the ball, against a Valencia who barely made any arrivals to Kameni’s area. Sandro, electric with his passes, fired a close range shot but came up against Alves in 58’. A minute later, Juankar came on in place of Jony on the left of the attack. In minute 71, Llorente, in an incorporation on the attack, launched a powerful kick near the crossbar of the ‘Che’ rival.
The second Malaguista substitution came in minute 72, as Ontiveros left the pitch to a standing ovation and was replaced by Keko. The fans sang the anthem, chanted at the passes and enjoyed the great performance by their team, who were very solid in all facets of play with effective and efficient football. Santi Mina, in a one on one with Kameni gave some hope to Valencia in minute 83. Charles, in the 87th minute, substituted Sandro, who also received a standing ovation.
In stoppage time, Mangala sent the ball to the left post of Kameni, whilst Rosales showed visible physical discomfort. All this just before the final whistle, securing another valuable win at La Rosaleda, and giving Málaga CF 36 points in the LaLiga Santander table.
