The clash began with a somewhat leisurely rhythm, but within 20 seconds of the start, Ochoa, on his debut in the starting 11 alongside the Nigerian-born Uche, was tested when Sporting broke through on the left. After the first few minutes of probing, Málaga sought to speed up the game on the offensive side against a well settled Sporting with more speed up front, especially with spearheads Jony and Sanabria.

The arrivals of Chory and Rosales down the wings, as well as the activity on the second row from Pablo, were the best options for the team led by 'Gato' Romero due to the absence of sanctioned Javi Gracia.

The magic of Juanpi, 25^th minute of the match after a break in the front, the Venezuelan produces a strike that curls and pierces Cuéllar’s top corner. What a great goal, his fourth of the season, a 22 year old player whose growth shows no limit.

In the final stretch of the first half most of the action was in midfield with very little presence in either of the two areas, decisive defense moves on the few attacks with special mention of the Albentosa-Weligton combination, expeditious and extremely solid in the rear area making sure 'Memo' Ochoa was rarely put to test. This allowed the short term but important result of 1-0 to MCF.

When the match resumed, Castro took the place of Ndi in the Asturian squad. In the 50^th minute, a 'sharp' Chory shot found the head of Charles who scored but in a “just by an inch” offside position. Chory who was a real handful down the left side, was the Whites and Blues most active player at the start of the second half. Both Rosales and Recio, tried to have their moment with long shots but to no avail.

It was in the 61^st minute when Ochoa made is appearance with a major point blank save to prevent the stalemate with Gijón. Straight after, a header from Weligton in the other area brushed past the post of Cuellar. And then came more changes, for the visitors, Halilovic subbed Sanabria and for Málaga, Juankar returning after injury benched Uche (65'). Shortly afterwards, an applauded Chory left his position to the lead the way for the eternal Duda, for what would make his 296^th appearance for the malaguistas in first Division.

Sporting had a double chance in the 74^th minute, Ochoa first and then the left post prevented a goal from the visitors to the relief of the Martiricos stands. The need for points pushed Sporting into a well equipped Málaga’s half but with strong counter moves that grew even more when Atsu came on for goal scorer Juanpi (86'). The scoreboard stayed the same for a jubilant home crowd who celebrated the win that keeps them in the “quiet part” of the table.