There was a good crowd at Martiricos to welcome a classic Spanish football team, Real Sporting de Gijón. Mel kept Rubén Yáñez in goal, who made his debut in front of the fans today. Ramalho and Bustinza occupied the wings, with Juande and Escassi in central defence. Hervías and Cristian, the wingers, worked alongside N'Diaye and Luis Muñoz in the engine room. Upfront was the ‘double nine' of Rubén Castro and Loren.
In 5’, with a counterattack, Cristian generated the first opportunity with a cross shot. Then in 16’, a lateral free kick by Hervías led to a header sailing near the post by N'Diaye. Abelardo's men, on three quarters of the pitch, showed a degree of danger in their advances, especially Jordan Carrillo. After half an hour of play, the scoreboard remained all square.
Sporting scored the opener, putting the rival from Asturias in the lead with a Cristo González goal (0-1, 32’). Four minutes later, N’Diaye, again with a header, came close to an equaliser with Rubén Castro’s cross. At half-time, the visitors maintained a narrow lead.
In the second half, Pepe Mel made his first substitution. Febas came on for Escassi and N’Diaye moved to a more central position with Juande. Following a good individual display, Cristian tried his luck in 50’. A few minutes later, another two MCF changes saw Ramón replace Luis Muñoz in midfield (57’), and Chavarría come on for Hervías on the right of the attack (60’).
Yáñez prevented the second goal by the visitors, following a corner, in 61’. A minute later, it was Mariño who intervened to avoid the equaliser after a Chavarría header. The Argentinean, with his aerial power, caused problems for Sporting's defence.
Juanfran and Fran Sol, for Ramalho and Loren, were Mel’s final changes in 78’. The team kept insisting and the result of their push came the tie. Ramón took a corner from the left and Juande, at the far post, slammed the ball into the net (1-1, 86’). La Rosaleda exploded with jubilation and cheered the lads on until the end, with a determined Málaga looking for the second goal. That impetus led to a Sporting counterattack that was almost finished by Djuka, but he ran into Yáñez in 93’.
The teams shared the points from this game, and Málaga CF now have 10 points in 22nd place in LaLiga SmartBank.
