Skip to main content
EN
Report

Another point against a direct rival (0-0)

Málaga CF drew against Albacete Balompié on matchday 38 of LaLiga SmartBank. A highly balanced duel with alternatives that ended in a goalless draw at La Rosaleda.

Before the match got underway, the Malaguista players wore t-shirts in support of Dani Pacheco, who recently had surgery for talalgia and will miss out on the remainder of the season. It’s a special campaign, in terms of numbers, for Juankar. The Madrid-born left-back played his 100th official match wearing the Blue and White shirt.

The team’s top two scorers, Sadiku and captain Adrián returned to Pellicer’s starting-11 who stayed faithful to the system of three centrals and two full-backs that has worked well in recent games. Lucas Alcaraz’s Albacete got off to a pacey start. Dani Ojeda, on two occasions in 7’ and Zozulia with a bicycle kick in 10’ generated the most promising opportunities for the rival.

Little by little, Málaga began to impose their pace of play. Juanpi, just before the first water break, put the rival keeper to the test with a direct free kick. The Venezuela, active in midfield, sought to tip the balance of the match between the lines against a compact Albacete defence. Alcaraz’s men caused a degree of danger on their approaches to the ‘Zamora’ of the category, Munir. However, at half-time the scoreboard remained at 0-0.

In the second half, balance and equality between both teams remained the predominant tone of play. Keidi, with his now classic mid-range shot, tested the reflexes of Gabriel in 52’. Juankar, on the left, accelerated along the wing, always arriving at the base line. After the first 15 minutes, Pellicer made his first substitution, bringing on Buenacasa for Tete.

In 67’, Diego González was shown the yellow card that carries federative suspension. Four minutes later, Keidi was sent off in 71’ as the referee showed him two yellow cards within a short space of time. Immediately afterwards, Benkhemassa replaced Juanpi to form a double pivot in midfield with Adrián. Munir, just before the second cooling break, made a superb save from an Álvaro shot to avoid the 0-1.

Hicham, on his return to the pitch, came on in place of Diego in 80’ in order to step up the attack due to being a man down. The Moroccan-born winger, in 86’, almost scored with a shot that was deflected by Gabriel. In the final stages, despite attempts by the visitors from set pieces, the scoreboard stayed at 0-0.

The sixth consecutive match without defeat for Málaga CF, who have accumulated four matches on the bounce without conceding a goal to total 46 points in the standings (16th place), with a +2 advantage above the drop zone positions to Segunda División B.