Gran Canaria isn’t an easy stadium.  We all knew.  However, the rival being awarded a penalty in minute 9 didn’t help matters.  Momó was successful from the penalty spot for Las Palmas, and just 10 minutes into the game, all the preparations made for this match just got far more difficult.

Las Palmas are a team that likes to touch the ball and, in essence, send the match to sleep with their management of the ball.  Málaga attempted to break this pace of play, and Jony, with a pass from Charles, sent a warning signal out to goalkeeper, Javi Varas in minute 17.

Juanpi took the reins of the team and tried to cause some trouble for the rival between the lines.  Charles sent a shot wide on one occasion, and in another forced a possible hand ball inside the area that the referee didn’t consider penalty-worthy.

Camacho, the fighter, received an accidental kick in the face and had to be treated for a minor injury.

The last chance in the first half came with a pass from Chory on the left, deflected by the defence when Charles appeared hoping to score the equaliser.

After half-time, Juande decided to go all out.  Sandro and En-Nesyri joined the match, along with Charles, to fill the pitch with attacking players.

Gameplay moved focus to the Las Palmas goal area.  The approaches were continual, but without any clear chances to get on the scoreboard.

Such was the drive that two extremely close calls came about.  The first was from Charles, who gave his all, but the ball just went high of the target.  Then it was En-Nesyri who headed the ball into the hands of Javi Varas on the brink of stoppage time.