Painful defeat at Mendizorroza certifies relegation (2-1)
Málaga CF lost to Deportivo Alavés, who scored through Villalibre and Toni Moya, while Luis Muñoz netted the momentary equaliser. With this result, there are no longer any options to remain in LaLiga SmartBank.
It was a fateful afternoon for Malaguismo this Saturday in Vitoria. MCF didn’t claim any points against the Babazorros on their visit to Mendizorroza and couldn’t hold on to options to remain in the division until the last matchday.
The Blue and White team - wearing pink on this occasion – kicked off the match with the conviction of dominating the ball. Pellicer's men took possession in the first 45' in which there were hardly any great scoring chances for either team. The clearest approach was a powerful shot by the locals just before half-time. A highly attentive Rubén Yáñez managed to deflect Abde's shot from the left to a corner. The scoreboard remained at 0-0 at half-time.
As the second half got underway, the match became extremely complicated for the Malaguistas. In the first play of the second half, Alavés went in front with a goal by Villalibre (1-0, 46'). The local striker made the most of an unfortunate defensive play by MCF to put his team ahead.
It took Málaga CF a few minutes to recover from the blow, but they regained the pulse of the game and enjoyed promising chances until they went level. First Rubén Castro and later Luis Muñoz forced Sivera to intervene. In 77', Luis Muñoz, after a combination with Febas and Chavarría, took the match level with a great shot (1-1, 77').
Pellicer’s team went all out for the second goal and Rubén Castro came close with a shot to the post that was cleared by the local goalkeeper.
Another blow, now definitive, dashed all Malaguista hopes. Toni Moya scored the winning goal with a shot from outside the area (2-1, 87').
There was one final push for the remainder of play, but the scoreboard didn't move again. Málaga CF didn’t manage to score any points and relegation is now definite.
