It was a goalless draw between Málaga CF and Real Sporting de Gijón in Asturias, on matchday 25 of LaLiga SmartBank. The Malaguistas played a very serious match in Pellicer’s re-debut.
There was a great atmosphere in the stands at El Molinón – Enrique Castro ‘Quini’ on this cold evening for the LaLiga SmartBank matchday 25 fixture between Real Sporting de Gijón and Málaga CF. Pellicer returned to the Blue and White dugout and established his gameplan from the outset.
The manager introduced multiple changes to the starting-11 compared to last week’s match against Burgos CF. Yáñez; Bustinza, Ramalho, Burgos, Javi Jiménez; Álex Gallar, Luis Muñoz, N’Diaye, Lago Junior; Jozabed and Fran Sol made up the Malaguista starting line-up.
Sporting came up against a solid Malaguista team - dressed in black today - and their first approaches were from distance. Pedro Díaz came up against Yáñez in minute 5, and another attempt hit the post later in the first half (21'). In a rapid transition, Miguel Ángel’s team found the goal thanks to Aitor, but the referee disallowed it due to an illegal position.
Pellicer's team also had several options to open the scoring. In the 15th minute, Lago Junior finished a great attacking action served up by Luis Muñoz from the right wing, but his attempt came up against a local defender. Around half an hour into play, Jozabed sought out Burgos at the far post from a long free kick. After a poor Sporting clearance, Ramalho tried his luck near Cuellar's area, yet the ball, once again, was stopped in its tracks by a Red and White central defender.
There was no change on the scoreboard after 45 minutes.
In the second half, both sides continued with their gameplans. After a few minutes of back and forth, but without opportunities, Febas and Rubén Castro came on in place of Fran Sol and Álex Gallar (59'). A minute later, Luis Muñoz launched a shot from distance, but Cuellar made a strong clearance.
The Malaguista number '24' didn't take long to demonstrate his goal-scoring ability. In 66', he controlled a great cross with his chest and propelled a powerful shot using his left leg, but a confident Cuellar once again saved the shot.
Cristian came on to replace captain Luis Muñoz to occupy the left wing of the Malaguista attack. Málaga were well-positioned on the pitch and continued their search for a goal to take the lead on the scoreboard. Jozabed, in the 82nd minute, made an attempt from distance but the ball went wide.
In 89', Appiah and Ramón replaced a fatigued Lago Junior and Jozabed. However, the scoreboard remained the same and the match ended in a 0-0 draw, giving Málaga CF another point to total 22 and a provisional 20th place in the standings.
