A minute’s silence was held before Málaga-Villarreal got underway, in memory of former Blue and Whites’ players, Bustillo and Lekue who recently passed away. Juande’s team got off to a good start. In minute 6, when the fans cheered for Camacho, a great run from Jony resulted in a chance for Recio, that was repelled by the rival defence. Immediately after, a long shot from Charles, along with Pablo on the right during his League debut, created certain danger on the attack.
Following the first 15 minutes, Villarreal sought to give more pause to the match in the wide area of the pitch. However, Jony took no notice of this and appeared again in minute 16 with a fabulous individual action on the left, but didn’t find a striker. Villarreal were quick to take advantage. A rapid move from Santos Borré assisted Jaume Costa to score with an impressive left-footer (0-1, 33’).
Shortly afterwards, La Rosaleda held its breath. In minute 39 a penalty committed by Weligton – in a previous dubious action – gave Bruno the possibility to increase the visitors’ lead. However, Kameni prevented a second goal with a great stretch. Just before half-time, Málaga were dealt another psychological blow. Italian player, Sansone overcame the opposition from Kameni to score the second goal of the game for Fran Escribá’s men (0-2, 44’).
In the second half, Juande made a double change, bringing on Juanpi and Keko in place of Pablo and Sandro. In minute 48, Rosales prevented a shot from an incisive Sansone on the goal line. In the 52nd minute, Málaga had a clear chance to get on the scoreboard with a Recio header following a corner, but the ball narrowly went high. The Juanpi-Rosales duo sought to filter passes between the lines and generate shots from the right, but they lacked the final touch needed to score.
Midway through the second half, following a promising header by Charles after a Juanpi pass, Chory substituted Recio in minute 69. The fans, who were immeasurable in their support, didn’t stop encouraging the team, hoping for an epic end to the final stages of play. In addition, the home crowd gave an ovation to ex Malaguista, Samu Castillejo as he left the pitch – which was in perfect condition. In the 79th minute, Keko went in search of a goal with a shot to the side of the net of another ex MCF player, Asenjo.
Undiano Mallenco, in his 292nd LaLiga match – historic refereeing record – disallowed a goal as Miguel Torres was offside (86’), the last attempt by the Malaguistas to get in the game that escaped in the first half, and ended in a 0-2 defeat. Málaga’s first loss of 2016/17 after an unblemished pre-season (10 victories, two draws) and two draws in the first two League matches.
