There was a spectacular atmosphere at Martiricos today, with the run-up marked by the spectacular reception by the Malaguista fans to the sound of #MálagaTodosaUna. Before the match got underway, the Blue and White players wore t-shirts in support of their teammate Mamadou Koné, who is suffering with long-term injury. Once on the pitch, Muñiz made two changes to the starting line-up in regard to last week’s 11 in Majadahonda. Blanco Leschuk and Keidi returned to the line-up, in place of Seleznov and Erik Morán.
The match got off to a very intense start with Málaga piling the pressure on against Deportivo who had more possession in the attacking half. Competitive tension on both sides, but without any clear chances in either of the two areas. The first shot at goal, in minute 29, was by Deportivo’s Edu Expósito. Pacheco, 10 minutes later, launched a free kick from the left that was saved by rival keeper, Dani Giménez.
Borja Valle, with a dangerous shot in 43’, tried his luck without success. Following an action protested by a possible infraction in the rival area, the scoreboard remained at 0-0 in half-time.
As the second half got underway, Málaga could have taken the lead (49’). Keidi pressured on the exit of the ball from goalkeeper, Giménez, who made a mistake on his deflection. Blanco Leschuk gained possession of a dead ball but his shot at the target was met with the response from the Deportivo keeper. In 58’, Valle propelled a forceful shot that led to a solid save from Munir. A minute later, Muñiz made the first Malaguista substitution, bringing on Seleznov in place of Leschuk. In the 61st minute, Diego González was shown the yellow card which carries suspension.
Fede Cartabia, in 67’ appeared in the Malaguista area with a dry shot that went out. Quique, the Deportivo ‘pichichi’, attempted a left-footer that was saved by Munir. The Melilla-born goalkeeper showed his skills saving a point-blank shot from Valle in 81’. Renato and Harper, for Pacheco and Alejo marked the final MCF substitutions in the closing stages of the game. Jack Harper came close to glory (85’) with a powerful shot repelled by Giménez.
The scoreboard didn’t move and with a 0-0 draw the points are shared between both teams, which can be considered fair considering what was seen on the pitch. As such, Málaga CF ends the matchday with 47 points, in 4th place in LaLiga 1|2|3 and a point away from direct promotion positions.
