There was a superb atmosphere in the stands on this Monday evening in the run-up to the match. Muñiz made two changes to his starting-11 in respect of the match against Córdoba, bringing on Renato and Ontiveros in place of the non-called-up Alejo and homegrown player Harper. The team got off to an energetic start with an active Javi Ontiveros, who made the first shot at goal in minute 6 from the left profile of the attack.
After the first quarter of an hour, Málaga took the lead over Osasuna. Blanco Leschuk, from the right, served up the perfect ball for Adrián who was most unforgiving in the face of former Malaguista Rubén (1-0, 15’). The seventh league goal for the player from Madrid, and the fifth assist for the striker so far in the competition. The fans, standing by their #MálagaTodosaUna motto, didn’t stop cheering on their team.
In the final stretch of the first half the wild talent of Ontiveros again shone through. A colossal dribble past a rival defender and a shot at goal that grazed the post in 42’. Two minutes later, there was another clear chance to widen the lead following a good run from N’Diaye and an attempt by Renato that hit the post. At half-time the scoreboard remained at 1-0 after a notable first 45 minutes.
In the second half, following an initial dangerous action woven by Renato on the right wing, the visitors went level. A lethal counterattack from Rubén García, who won the one-on-one with Munir (1-1, 47’). The Martiricos stands reacted to push the team on, who again approached the rival area with a vertical pass from Ontiveros that ended up with N’Diaye and a shot that went wide (57’).
Midway through the second half, MCF went in search of the second goal against the well-positioned Reds, awaiting a counterattack and containing the pace of play. As the match advanced, Juan Villar scored for the visitors (1-2, 75’). Immediately afterwards, Seleznov and Mula substituted Keidi and Renato (78’) followed shortly after by Harper coming on in place of Ontiveros (80’).
With things going in their favour, Osasuna could have resolved the match in a couple of actions, particularly with a dry shot from Nacho Vidal that was deflected by Munir in 82’. In the closing stages a tenacious Málaga kept on in search of an equaliser, but it wasn’t to be. The final 1-2 result breaks a run of eight games without defeat for a Málaga CF who, with 50 points, remains in fourth place in LaLiga 1|2|3.
