The first match of the pre-season in the Málaga area saw Málaga CF up against Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia, at Marbella’s municipal ground. The team revved up the engines in the first minutes of play, and soon took control of the match. Chory, very active on the left wing, assisted Pablo Fornals to open the scoring in minute 21, who powered the ball past the keeper.
Having taken the lead, the Malaguistas approached the area with great clarity, and in minute 25, Charles scored the second goal in a first half that kept getting better, ending with the Blue and Whites having a considerable dominance of the game.
Juande Ramos made some changes at half-time, bringing on goalkeeper, Samu Casado in place of Aarón, and central defender, Koné replaced Llorente.
Play completely turned in the direction of the Saudi area, with Málaga generating goal opportunities thanks to Charles; a Duda free kick; and Santos, who missed out on the target.
More changes were made in the second half, and in minute 69, Rosales, Ontiveros, Nesyri, Juankar and Juanpi joined the game all at once. A few minutes later, Kuki also stepped on to the pitch, so the team finished with a completely different line-up to the starting-11, with the exception of Kuzmanovic.
Saudi player, Ali Awaji scored in an isolated play in minute 76, adding excitement to the final minutes with the scoreboard at 2-1. The joy was short-lived, as a dive from reserve team player, Kuki led to the third goal, thanks to assistance from Ontiveros on the left in minute 80, leaving their victory almost sealed (3-1).
Night fell over Marbella and the match ended with another victory, and more importantly, another test for the Malaguistas ahead of LaLiga. On Saturday at La Rosaleda stadium, the team will be in action in the Costa del Sol Cup, against UC Sampdoria.
Line-ups:
Málaga CF: Aarón (Samu Casado, 45’), Robles (Rosales, 69’), Llorente (Kone, 45’), Mikel, Ricca (Juankar, 69’), Kuzmanovic, Duda, Pablo (Ontiveros, 69’), Chory (Juanpi, 69’), Santos and Charles (Nesyri, 69’)
Al Ahli FC: Al Mosailem, Aljassam, Muwashar, Abdelshafi, Hawsawi, Alsoma, Louis Carlos, Giannis, Al Moqahwi, Al Fatil and Al Sahabi
Goals:
1-0, Pablo (21’)
2-0, Charles (25’)
2-1, Ali Awaji (76’)
3-1, Kuki (80’)
Referee: Domínguez Fernández
Information: Pre-season match held at Marbella’s municipal ground.