The first minutes of play were based on back and forth between both teams. Girona tightened up, but Málaga endured well and responded with two good actions by Mula, making his debut with the first team this evening, but his shots didn’t find Borja. Pablo Machín’s men began to dominate the match midway through the first half, and started to make dangerous approaches to Roberto’s area. A poor corner by Girona propitiated a counter-attack by Míchel’s team. They covered nearly 50 metres again with the ball glued to the foot, but Girona put the brakes on the homegrown Malaguista winger. Granell was shown the first yellow card of the game (21’) for a foul on Recio. The first goal of the match arrived in the 28th minute. Alcalá, from a dubious position, put Girona in front after sending a dead ball inside the area to the back of the net. Málaga didn’t break down and played their best moments following the local goal. They enjoyed more possession, but without generating any clear goal opportunities. With a minute left to go in the first half, Borja hooked a shot that travelled close to Iraizoz’s area.
Míchel substituted Juanpi, bringing on Jony at the start of the second half. In minute 53, Kuzmanovic was replaced by Ontiveros. Iraizoz was shown the yellow card (54’) for moving out to midfield to protest following a brawl, and Ontiveros was also booked minutes later (57’) for bringing down a rival. Four minutes later, a Girona goal was disallowed for being offside. A yellow card followed for Recio (62’) and Cecchini, who was warming up on the side lines and stepped on to the pitch whilst play was stopped to deliver the ball to Roberto, was also booked by the referee. Málaga went all out on the left wing, with Jony narrowly missing out on the equaliser, as his shot was saved by Iraizoz. Machín also made some changes, bringing on Douglas Luiz in place of Portu. Míchel made his last substitution in the 80th minute, with En-Nesyri coming on to replace Rosales. In addition, Machín substituted Stuani for Kayode and Juande for Borja García. Mula was booked in the final minute of play for bringing down Douglas Luiz. Málaga, with three defenders, and Borja and En-Nesyri upfront, went all-out for the draw in the last stage of play, but didn’t manage to net a goal, and suffered the second defeat of the season.
