A good afternoon for football at Martiricos with a great atmosphere in the stands, and on the pitch there were few changes to Pellicer’s starting line-up. Captain Adrián was back in place of suspended Benkhemassa and Renato took the place of Antoñín on the left profile of the attack.
The Blue and Whites got off to an energetic start, very intense in the opening stages, particularly on the right wing. Hicham and Cifu were both highly active, the latter with a dangerous shot at the target in 11’. Meanwhile, Mirandés didn’t hesitate to approach Munir’s goal a couple of times. Merquelanz (12’) and Álvaro Rey (15’) showed their attacking credentials. Midway through the first half, there was a clear opportunity for Málaga to take the lead. Sadiku, surrounded by defenders, narrowly missed out on an opener following a superb pass from Cifu.
Adrián, in 29’, skyed a counter-attack by Juanpi. Two minutes later, great play by Hicham resulted in Sadiku again being intercepted by the Mirandés defence. The team deserved a goal. It had to arrive, and it did. Málaga were awarded a penalty which was converted by Adrián, surpassing Limones (1-0, 34’). The fourth goal of the season for the Madrid-born number ‘8’.
Pellicer’s men stayed strong and using their strategy, generated more danger before half-time. In 43’, first Adrián then Hicham immediately afterwards, sought the second goal.
Following a notable first half for the Malaguistas, the second half got underway with a more proactive Mirandés on the attack. The equaliser wasn’t far away. Pressure from Marcos de Sousa forced Munir to dribble the ball, bouncing off the striker and into the net (1-1, 54’).
Pellicer made some changes, bringing on Antoñín for Renato Santos in 58’. The players overcame the blow of the equaliser with character and football. Then the second goal arrived. A cross from Hicham on the right and Sadiku, after numerous attempts, slammed the ball into the back of the net (2-1, 65’). The ninth league goal for the ‘pichichi’.
In minute 75’ Pacheco substituted a much applauded Hicham. Shortly afterwards, Merquelanz converted from the penalty spot for Mirandés (2-2, 79’). The reserve team’s Julio came on in place of Luis Muñoz, the final MCF substitution, in search of a third goal. However, it wasn’t to be, and the final result was all square (2-2), and the ninth undefeated match in LaLiga SmartBank for Málaga CF, remaining in 16th place in the standings with 28 points.