Salva Ballesta’s boys were very active on the pitch from the start, and opened the scoring after five minutes thanks to a goal from Rufo following a Juanpi Añor corner.
Rufo celebrated his return to the starting-11 following his absence for several months through injury, with a second goal. An impressive one-on-one display from Samu Castillejo on the left wing saw Rafa de Vicente gain possession. Although the rival keeper prevented the first attempt at goal, it was Rufo on the rebound who slammed the ball into the back of the net.
The ‘Malaguistas’ had several scoring opportunities in the first half, although they didn’t materialise as well as they did in the second half. Samu Castillejo who performed very well today, scored twice. The Blue and Whites’ third goal of the game followed a good counter attack from Vela on the right wing, taking advantage of a bad decision by the rival goalkeeper after a Pedro Mérida kick.
The fourth goal of the match was impossible to forget. A fantastic pass from Pablo Ganet was controlled well by Jurado who sailed the ball into the back of the net. With victory already in the bag, Samu Castillejo scored his second goal of the game to put Malagueño 5-0 in the lead.
Atlético Malagueño’s performance today allowed them to forget last weekend’s defeat against Villacarrillo, and look toward this week having earned three important points without playing, due to Unión Estepona abandoning the competition. Other results this week saw draws for Linares Deportivo (1-1 with Los Molinos) and Marbella FC (0-0 against Melilla B) making the top of the table even tighter. Marbella FC are still in front with 67 points, followed by Linares with 66, and Vélez and Atlético Malagueño tied with 63. Mancha Real and Loja both gained three points this weekend and are still fighting for play-off positions, with 62 and 60 points respectively.
Salva Ballesta’s boys are not in League action this week, but have a friendly against CD El Palo on Wednesday 26th March at 5:30 p.m. at the ‘Federación Malagueña’ ground.
Match stats:
At. Malagueño: Sergio, Jurado, Víctor Ruiz, Álex Portillo, Calero, Deco (Pablo, 72’), Juanpi (Vela, 63’), Rafa de Vicente, Zalea (Pedro Mérida, 63’), Samu Castillejo and Rufo.
Español del Alquián: Pito, Dani (Collado, 45’), Vizcaíno (Cristo, 77’), Víctor, Paco, Juanma, Pigui, Beltrán, Pixa, Chano and Antonio (Lucas, 72’).
Goals:
1-0 Min 5. Rufo
2-0 Min 32. Rufo.
3-0 Min 72. Samu Castillejo
4-0 Min 75. Jurado
5-0 Min 85. Samu Castillejo
Referee: Baena Acal, José Carlos. Yellow cards were shown to Atlético Malagueño’s: Deco (13’), Jurado (74’) and Pedro Mérida (90’), and Español del Alquián’s: Vizcaíno (33’), Lucas (44’), Paco (45’) and Beltrán (74’).