It was a sunny afternoon in Galicia and there were several changes to Sergio Pellicer’s starting-11. Juan Soriano was in goal in place of Dani Barrio; Juande was in defence, with Benítez and Matos on the wings for Alexander and Cristo; team captain Lombán took the place of injured Mejías; Escassi and Jozabed returned to the wide area together with Luis Muñoz; and Yanis and Jairo were on the wing accompanying Caye upfront. There were eight changes in total.
There was a lot of back and forth between both teams in the first 15 minutes of play, without any real danger in the areas. In minute 17, Luis Muñoz had to abandon play due to injury (hamstring injury to left leg), with Benkhemassa coming on in his place. The first shot at goal was for Málaga, the work of Caye, whose attempt hit the crossbar. However, Lugo scored on the first approach to Soriano’s goal, but Marcelo Djalo fouled the Malaguista keeper, disallowing the goal (31’).
Caye, in 37’, again tried his luck in front of the Lugo goal but without success. The remainder of the first half continued in the same way. At half-time the scoreboard remained at 0-0.
In the second half, Jairo, after an excellent individual display, launched a left-footer that grazed the post in 46’. MCF advanced lines, particularly on the right, with a robust Ale Benítez. Then came an incredible chance following an error by the rival keeper, as Caye assisted Benkhemassa with the Algerian, unmarked, trying his luck with a shot that was saved by a local defender in goal. In that same moment, in 56’, Lugo came close to a goal, but a superb Juan Soriano save put paid to their efforts.
Luis César’s team, from the set piece, created danger from corners and lateral free kicks. In 63’, Stefan replaced Jozabed, to work alongside Caye upfront. A draw looked on the cards as the final whistle approached.
Pellicer made a double substitution: Cristian and Joaquín in 79’, in place of Caye and Jairo. Five minutes later, a corner kick from Lombán was converted by Stefan (0-1, 84’). A goal worth three points and another away win for Málaga CF with 45 points after 33 games in LaLiga SmartBank. Vamos, Málaga!
