Málaga CF kicked off their away fixtures this 21/22 season visiting UD Ibiza’s Can Misses stadium for the first time ever, as they make their LaLiga SmartBank debut.
José Alberto selected a 1-4-4-2 formation with the only inclusion of Antoñín on the attack and featuring a total of seven homegrown players.
Dani Barrio was in goal; Ismael, Peybernes, Juande and Javi Jiménez were the line of four in defence; Escassi and Luis Muñoz on the double pivot; Paulino and Kevin on the wings; whilst Brandon and Antoñín were highly active upfront.
Following a rough start due to a foul on Paulino after a few seconds, which culminated in a yellow card for local centre-back Rubén González, the game started to heat up.
The first chance of the game was for veteran player, Javi Lara, whose shot went to the right of Dani Barrio. The response, a few minutes later in 16’, featured a powerful shot from Kevin from inside the area after a pass from Brandon that was blocked by Germán.
However, it was UD Ibiza who went ahead. Bogusz finished off a cross from the right by former Malaguista Cifu (1-0 min19).
The goal boosted the locals’ confidence and the Blue and Whites, today wearing the away kit, found it difficult to return to the clarity seen at the start of play for the remainder of the first half, apart from a few lateral crosses.
The second half kicked-off with the same slow pace that the first ended. In 50’, a combination between Kevin and Brandon ended in a pass that didn’t find a finisher.
After an hour of play, UD Ibiza increased their lead. Again it was Bogusz, this time with a shot to the post from the left (2-0 min61).
Following this goal, José Alberto made a triple substitution that he had prepared since before the second goal. Genaro, Jairo and Roberto came on in place of Paulino, Kevin and Antoñin, altering the formation to 1-4-2-3-1.
These changes reactivated the Malaguistas immediately, in such a way that they managed to narrow the gap thanks to Luis Muñoz's goal, sending the ball over the local keeper and scoring the team's first goal this season (2-1 min63).
Cufré joined the match in place of Javi Jiménez in 70’, in search of more of an attacking profile for the left-back. Castell came close to scoring two minutes later, but his shot went wide after dribbling past Dani Barrio.
The last stretch of the match was played in the home side’s half, in search of rapid transitions on the wing. In one of them, in 78 ', Jairo's cross nearly found Roberto at the far post.
Haitam replaced Luis Muñoz as the fifth and final substitution in another attacking move by the Malaguista coach.
Genaro tried his luck from distance with seven minutes remaining, but his attempt went high. The team’s final push had its reward. Roberto received an inside pass from Haitam to take the team level with a shot out of the local keeper’s reach (2-2 min88).
The match continued with Málaga seeking the third goal, which they nearly did in stoppage time thanks to Juande, yet his header went out after Cufré’s cross. The home side also had a chance to score the winner in the final seconds.
With this point, the Martiricos team have two points from the first two matches of the season. The next game is on Friday at 22:00 against AD Alcorcón at La Rosaleda.
