Draw and everything to play for in the second leg (0-0)
Atlético Malagueño drew against El Palo FC, at the Federación Malagueña ground, in the first leg of the second round of the promotion playoffs to Segunda Federación, leaving the outcome for next weekend at Nuevo San Ignacio.
A capacity crowd at the Federación Malagueña de Fútbol ground hosted the first leg of the second round of the promotion playoffs to the Segunda Federación between Atlético Malagueño and El Palo FC.
The Blue and White team got off to an energetic start, finishing two plays in the early stages with attempts from Rafa and Juanmita, who came up against visiting goalkeeper Benito.
In 10', El Palo player, Ito finished a cross from Christian into the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for being offside.
The Malaguista response came from Paco with a shot from distance that was deflected four minutes later. Joao Paulo also tried his luck from distance after the 20 minute-mark.
The heat began to take its toll on the pitch and shortly before half an hour into play there was a hydration break.
Rafa, who came close to a goal in the first play of the match, shot high from the edge of the area in 33', and the scoreboard remained unchanged at half-time.
In the second half, Jesús Martín and Bilal continued trying from distance and El Palo FC advanced lines in the first quarter of an hour.
The visitors were left with 10 men due to a double yellow card for their captain, Lulu in 68'. In a later action, Atlético Malagueño had the clearest option of opening the scoring. Paco took a corner from the right, which was finished by Bilal and cleared by Benito who again intervened successfully from Rafa's point-blank shot on the rebound.
The Blue and Whites didn’t give up in their efforts to get the goal with continuous approaches around the visitor's goal, including an attempt by Juanmita in stoppage time that didn’t find the net.
The goal didn’t arrive, and the match ended in a goalless draw. This result means Malagueño need to win at the Nuevo San Ignacio next week to move on to the last round of promotion playoffs. In the event of a draw at the end of regulation time at El Palo, the match will go to extra time, and if the score is equal, there will be no penalty shootout, as El Palo FC would advance to the round after having qualified third in the group (Malagueño was fifth) in the regular league.
