The start of play was marked by the previous heavy rainfall, although the Martiricos pitch showed a good aspect throughout. Muñiz introduced four changes to the starting-11 in respect of the last match, with the debut of Kieszek in goal in place of Munir, and the entrance of Lacen and Mula for N’Diaye and Pacheco. The fourth change was Ontiveros, initially a substitute, who entered the starting line-up in place of Renato. The Portuguese player suffered discomfort to his right quadriceps during the warm-up.
Málaga were superior to Tenerife from the start, dominating in all aspects of play. Harper, in minute 2, tried his luck with a well-focused shot. Pau, following a corner, launched a dangerous header in minute 8. Then Ontiveros, with a pass from Mula, attempted a long shot in the 16th minute. Harper and Ricca, in 20’ and 26’, completed the approaches before the well-deserved goal. A filtered pass between the lines by Ontiveros and a perfectly defined left-footer into goal from Blanco Leschuk (1-0, 35’).
Following the second assist from the Marbella-born player and the second goal of the season for the Argentine, the match went to half-time with Muñiz’s men in the lead.
In the second half, Tenerife, unprecedented on the attack in the first half, showed good verticality particularly on the right with a sharp Suso. In 48’ Naranjo came close to an equaliser but missed in front of an empty goal. In 55’ Juankar coming on in place of Ontiveros was the first substitution for the locals on the left profile of the attack.
Midway through the second half the match became more abrupt. Tenerife had more possession in the wide area against a Málaga focused on the defence. In 80’ Boulahroud replaced Lacen, with the central pivot shown the yellow card. A minute later, Suso sent the ball to Kieszek’s right post that saw everyone in the stadium hold their breath. Mula was replaced by Hicham in 81’.
Yet again the Moroccan winger shook up the attack and came close to the second goal of the game in 88’ with a trademark action. However, the scoreboard remained the same, the fourth win on the run this season, the third consecutive win by 1-0 and the 400th official victory as MCF for the leaders of LaLiga 1|2|3. Vamos Málaga!