A hot Sunday morning on Pitch HA4 of the Blue and White academy, where the main stand gathered more than 500 spectators.
Héctor Díaz named a starting-11with María Arrabal in goal; Lorena Herrera, Marina, Jeni and Farfán in defence; Andrea Ríos and Noemí as holding midfielders, with Encarni and Alicia on the wings; Andrea Herrero in the attacking midfield role, and Arantxa leading the line.
From the opening whistle, the match was very evenly contested. Málaga, however, created far more chances than the Real Sociedad reserve side. After the first quarter of an hour, Farfán and Jeni, pushing forward, each had a chance to score.
League top scorer Alicia and Arantxa, always dangerous with her left foot on set pieces, were the most active for Málaga. Real ‘B’, meanwhile, barely threatened María Arrabal’s goal. At halftime, it was 0-0.
After the restart, the pattern of the match barely changed. MCFF remained slightly superior to their opponents but couldn’t find the net. Jeni had the clearest chance of the game in the 54th minute, heading against the crossbar from an Alicia corner.
After the first quarter of an hour in the second half, Héctor made a change, bringing on reserve player Yessenia for Noemí, the only player who had been booked. Futu replaced Andrea Herrero in the 77th minute, and Carmen Aguilar and homegrown player Dayana came on for Encarni and Alicia in the 85th minute, completing the substitutions made by the Madrid-born coach.
The score remained unchanged at 0-0, leaving everything to be decided in the second leg, which will be played at the Zubieta facilities on Sunday 10th May, kicking off at 17:00.
