There was a good atmosphere in the stands for this Andalusian derby, in which Míchel repeated the same line-up that triumphed in the last match at Anoeta. The opponent - Setién’s Betis, with their usual stamp of associative play from the back. A header from Baysse following a corner kick in 7’ generated the first chance of the match, that went over the crossbar. In minute 12, another corner set up a header, this time for Recio, that went to the right post of Adán.
After the first quarter of an hour, a cross shot from Keko from the right signalled another Málaga approach at the rival goal. Betis, loyal to their style, sought lengthy possessions to supply balls to ex-Malaguista, Joaquín, and strikers, Tello and León. It was precisely Joaquín, with a superb assist, who allowed an unmarked Sergio León to outwit Roberto (0-1, 24’). Following the goal, the rival came up against a less impetuous Málaga.
Adrián, suffering with physical discomfort, was substituted in minute 40 by a recovered Rolan. Rosales, just before half-time, was shown the yellow card that carries with it federative sanction. In the subsequent action, Roberto made a great save from a Joaquín free kick. The scoreboard remained at 0-1 at half-time.
The second half kicked off with another setback. Camarasa, at point-blank range, scored the second goal for Betis (0-2, 50’). Borja, with a header, sought to narrow the gap in the 54th minute. Adrián, in 60’, was sent off by the referee whilst on the bench. Ontiveros came on in place of Keko (55’) to occupy the left side of the attack. The Marbella-born winger tried his luck in minute 64 with a dry shot from afar. Míchel used up his final substitution to bring on En-Nesyri for Peñaranda in 66’.
In the final part of the match, Málaga approached Adán’s area, but without creating any clear chances, against a rival that managed their advantage on the scoreboard using time as their ally. As such, Betis claimed the three points from Martiricos, breaking the run of three home games scoring points. The Blue and Whites face another important fixture on Thursday in Vitoria, against Alavés, to end the League competition for 2017.
