It was a day of debuts for Málaga. The players wore the new jersey for the first time in front of a capacity crowd, made up of some 1.500 Malaguistas and 500 fans of the British rival at this friendly sponsored by Málaga’s Provincial Government.
Míchel selected two different line-ups for each half. In the first, new signing Roberto was in goal, and Borja Bastón upfront. Fornals governed the start of play with his passes between the lines, supplying an active Chory on the left. Both players, with shots in front of the target, could have opened the scoring in minutes 13 and 16. In addition, a Borja header in response to a corner narrowly missed out on a goal in the 17th minute.
However, it was Sheffield who took the lead thanks to an impressive left-footer from John Fleck (0-1, 25’) from the 20-metre mark. The British outfit were more effective in front of goal than the Blue and Whites, who supplied more shots, more approaches and more possession, as well as a dangerous corner kick, but they remained at a disadvantage at half-time.
In the second half, it was time for the debut of recently incorporated Andrés Prieto, Baysse and Adrián. Jony came closest to a goal thanks to his continuing approaches from the left, packed full of power and pace. Sheffield advanced, remaining content with their advantage, whilst Málaga searched for an equaliser with Recio like a motor in midfield.
In the final stage of the game, we saw the best chances to level up the scoreboard. In 86’, En-Nesyri took advantage of a defensive blunder by the rival to steal possession and assist Adrián, who came up against a solid response from keeper, Moore in the one-on-one. Again, Adrián in minute 91 after a corner, shot a few inches wide over the crossbar. At full time, it was a 0-1 victory for Sheffield against an MCF who deserved more from this debut friendly.
Málaga CF’s line-up for the entire first half: Roberto; Rosales, Luis H., Mikel, Álex Robles; Keko, Deco, Fornals, Chory; Juanpi and Borja Bastón; and for the second half: Andrés Prieto; Cifu, Luis Muñoz, Baysse, M. Torres; Mula, José Carlos, Recio, Jony; Adrián and En-Nesyri.
(*) See image gallery from the match here.
