Málaga CF bid farewell to the Copa del Rey following defeat by Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Goals from Pol Domingo and Pablo Fernández put the home side through to the next round.
Bringing an end to 2022 this Thursday evening, the Nou Estadi Costa Dourada hosted Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona – Málaga CF, corresponding to the second round of the Copa del Rey. The Malaguistas arrived at this match after the league victory at La Rosaleda and with new faces in Pepe Mel’s starting-11. Manolo Reina; Bilal (debut), Ramalho, Juande, Bustinza; Ramón, Luis Muñoz, N’Diaye; Álex Gallar, Fran Sol and Issa Fomba formed the starting line-up.
The Malaguistas, wearing the third kit tonight, kicked off the match controlling the ball and making the most of set pieces to approach the area, yet not generating any dangerous chances in Parra's goal. However, it was the local side that opened the scoring. Pol Domingo gained possession in the area, deflected by the Malaguista defence, to put his team 1-0 up with a powerful shot in the 13th minute.
After the local goal, Nàstic grew and Málaga lost control. However, Pepe Mel's team recovered as time went on and they found the equaliser after half an hour of play. N'Diaye took advantage of a good play on the left wing between Luis Muñoz and Bustinza to shoot from inside the area to take the visitors level (1-1).
A Montalvo header, forcefully cleared by Manolo Reina, was the only chance before the half-time whistle. Both teams headed to the dressing room all square and each with a player having been shown the yellow card - N'Diaye and Bonilla.
In the second half, before the first minute of play, Fran Sol came close to scoring the second Malaguista goal with a great header served up by Ramón. The locals responded with a great combination between Marc Álvarez and Bonilla in which Manolo Reina had to work hard to deflect the ball to a corner kick.
Pepe Mel made some changes in search of victory. Febas and Fran Villalba replaced Álex Gallar and goal-scorer N’Diaye. Subsequently, Rubén Castro took the place of Luis Muñoz. With the changes the team improved and began to combine between the lines.
Villalba had a good chance from the edge of the area with his left foot, but Parra made an easy save. Then came another local goal. Pablo made the most of a poor clearance in the 81st minute to make it 2-1 at the Nou Estadi Costa Dourada.
Loren and Juanma, who was making his debut with the Malaguista first team, stepped on to the pitch to search for an equaliser in the final stretch. However, the result remained the same until the final whistle, and Málaga are out of the Copa del Rey. The team has brought an end to 2022 and will return on 7th January to host CD Tenerife at La Rosaleda as LaLiga SmartBank resumes.
