It was a cold night at Martiricos during Sergio Pellicer’s debut at the helm of the Malaguista squad. There was an emotional start, with a minute’s silence held in memory of the legendary Pepe González Torres, former pitch delegate who recently passed away. On the pitch, the coach opted for an attacking 1-4-3-3 formation, with reserve team central defender, Juande making his official first team debut, player number 360 to wear the Blue and White jersey in the MCF era.
The first home game of 2020 could not have got off to a better start. A play was initiated by Juanpi, and after being cleared by the rival, lead to Antoñín hunting down the ball and sending it to the back of the net (1-0, 2’). The fourth league goal for the homegrown forward, all four scored at La Rosaleda, and Málaga’s fastest goal this season.
Meanwhile, Ponferradina worked well with the ball but didn’t disturb Munir’s area. Pacheco, from a free kick in 19’, sent the ball to the side of Gazzaniga’s goal. As the first half advanced, Pellicer’s men controlled the pace of play, maintained an intense pressure without the ball, sought out fast transitions when possible and kept a dangerous strategy. The best chance for the Malaguistas came in 37’, with a kick from Juankar that sailed over the crossbar following a Pacheco corner.
The second half kicked off with a partial advantage for the Malaguistas. The rival attempted to stretch the lines, with Bolo introducing Isi (46’) to bring more dynamism to the attack. Málaga remained compact in defence and active on the wings, especially Renato and Antoñín. It was the Portuguese player who tried his luck in 66’ with a long shot following a rapid counter-attack that he initiated.
Benkhemassa, for Juanpi, was Pellicer’s first substitution in 67’. ‘Ponfe’ kept insisting, whilst MCF waited for their opportunity to seal their win. Keko, in place of Renato refreshed the right profile in 77’. Sadiku, with a powerful but deflected shot, sought a goal in minute 80. Just before the 90th minute, the Blue and White ‘pichichi’ was replaced by Sergio Buenacasa, who debuted with MCF against his former team.
Asier Benito, in stoppage time, forced Munir to intervene in what was the final chance for the visitors. At the final whistle, three important points to kick off the new year with a victory at La Rosaleda. An unbeatable debut for Pellicer in the Málaga CF dugout and a total of 26 points out of 23 matches in LaLiga SmartBank.
