Festival of goals against Pozoalbense to kick off the second round (5-3)

Málaga CF Femenino kicked off the second round of Segunda Federación Grupo Sur on Sunday. They were in action at home at the Francisco Romero ground in Rincón de la Victoria, in a thrilling regional derby against CD Pozoalbense ending in a 5-3 win.

Coach Juanma opted for an initial 1-4-4-2 formation made up of Andrea Ríos in goal; Encarni, Ruth, Silvia Mérida and Yoli in defence; Tati and María Cortés on the double pivot; Farfan – who wore the captain’s armband on her birthday – and Olmedo on the wings; with Monterroso and Futu upfront.

Before play got underway, there was a team photo of the girls wearing t shirts in support of teammates Sonia Torralvo and Claudia Muñoz, suffering with long-term injury.

The Blue and Whites dominated from the outset, looking for depth on the wings and filtering balls into space for the mobility of both Futu and Monterroso.

Farfán, very active and incisive on the wing throughout the match, had the first chance to open the scoring from inside the area. Monterroso also attempted a cross from the right, all within the first 10 minutes.

The visitors sought to advance based on set pieces.

Finally, the push from the home side was rewarded. A back pass from Encarni was followed by a series of clearances before the ball reached Farfán, who broke free of the defenders and surpassed the rival keeper with a shot into goal that grazed the crossbar (1-0, min27).

The joy of that first goal was short-lived as immediately afterwards Pozoalbense went level with a goal from Laura (1-1, min29).

The Blue and Whites continued to push and once again took the lead thanks to Silvia Mérida, who headed the ball into the net from a lateral free kick taken by Farfán (2-1, min37).

History repeated itself and minutes later the visitors took advantage of another isolated play to go level again with a goal from Xina (2-2, min40).

In the second half, Juanma’s team went all out for victory, encircling the rival goal.

Monterroso scored the third with a cross shot with her left foot from a Farfán header (3-2, min57).

A goal and two assists from Farfán on the day of her 23^rd birthday.

Then it was time to refresh the legs. First Teté and Sofía came on for Tati and Olmedo, 15 minutes into the second half. Carmen Gómez replaced Monterroso in 74' and 10 minutes later Carla stepped on to the pitch for Futu.

Forward Carmen Gómez made the most of a mistake by the rival to outwit visiting goalkeeper, Lorena (4-2, min85).

During the next play, Lucía brought Pozoalbense back into the match (4-3, min86).

With the situation under control, there was still time for more. And Silvia Mérida did it on the last play, again with a header from a María Cortés assist from the corner. A brace for the central defender (5-3, min92).

With this win, Málaga CF Femenino have 29 points from 16 games to stand in fifth place in Segunda Federación Grupo Sur. Next weekend the girls are away to UD Almería.