Málaga CF visited the Municipal Reino de León Stadium for the first time in their history, for their match against Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa on matchday 14 of LALIGA HYPERMOTION.
The two teams came into the game separated by a single point: 15 for the Blue and Whites, who on this occasion wore their black away kit with the green and purple stripe, and 14 for the León side.
Sergio Pellicer lined up a starting-11 consisting of Alfonso Herrero in goal; a back four of Rafita, Murillo, Montero and Víctor; Izan Merino and Dani Lorenzo in central midfield; David Larrubia, Rafa and Lobete in the attacking midfield line; and Jauregi upfront.
Before kick-off, a respectful minute’s silence was held in memory of Don Juan Miguel Diez Guisasola, former president of Cultural Leonesa.
The match began with a very clear chance for Málaga CF. A cross from Rafita on the right fell to the feet of Lobete, who smashed his well-placed shot against the crossbar. The team came close to opening the scoring.
Shortly after, the León side responded with a shot from outside the box by former Malaguista Iván Calero, which went wide.
Pellicer’s men continued pressing high up the pitch, while the home side based their attacking play on balls played in behind the Malaguista defence.
The team had as many as three scoring chances between the 24th and 36th minutes.
First, Rafa Rodríguez tried his luck from long range, resulting in a corner. Then came another attempt from Lobete, which ended up in the hands of Edgar Badía. The third was a turnover won by Rafa Rodríguez in the final third, finishing with a near-post shot that the León goalkeeper had to turn out for a corner.
The ball wouldn’t go in, and ‘La Cultu’ woke up thanks to two actions from Ribeiro. In the first, he sent the ball over the bar after a transition play.
The next one had worse consequences for Málaga’s interests. A run down the right and a low, angled shot, again from Ribeiro, that ended up in the back of the net (1–0, 39').
Málaga CF went into half-time with this narrow deficit after the first 45 minutes plus almost two added on.
For the second half, Adrián Niño came onto the pitch in place of Izan Merino, with the team switching to play with two forwards.
Málaga CF once again came out looking for the opposition’s goal, and before the 47th minute David Larrubia unleashed a powerful shot from the right side that Edgar Badía managed to save.
The team threw everything forward, trying to find the equaliser by all possible means. Dani Lorenzo also had a chance with a shot from the edge of the box, which the ‘Cultu’ goalkeeper again deflected.
The home side continued to rely on counterattacks to trouble the Malaguistas.
In the 70th minute, Sergio Pellicer made a double substitution, bringing on Dotor and Dorrio for David Larrubia and Lobete. Nine minutes later, Joaquín and Carlos Puga completed the substitutions, replacing the booked Montero and Rafa.
The team pinned the home side back in the final stretch of the match and searched for the equaliser through numerous crosses and corners, but the goal wouldn’t come. In the final play, with the team fully committed in Cultural’s half, Murillo was shown a red card after stopping a promising attack with a foul.
Málaga CF leave the Reino de León defeated and end the matchday in 18th place with 15 points.