Málaga CF hosted SD Eibar, leaders of LaLiga Smartbank, at La Rosaleda on matchday 37.
Guede’s men arrived at this game having beaten CD Leganés in Butarque by 0-3. The Malaguista coach was seeking his first home win following his debut that ended in a draw with Real Valladolid.
The Blue and White starting line-up, with a 1-4-4-2 formation, was made up of Dani Martín in goal; Víctor Gómez, Peybernes, Lombán and Javi Jiménez in a line of four defenders, Jozabed and Ramón in the engine room; with Febas on the left and Brandon on the right; and Vadillo and Antoñín upfront.
The match got off to a vibrant start and the intensity soon paid off for Guede’s men. Brandon, who received a pass from Víctor Gómez, outwitted the rival defence to open the scoring, the ninth goal for the number ‘9’ (1-0, 4').
Shortly afterwards, in minute 6, the first of Dani Martín's collection of stunning saves arrived, stopping Corpas' point-blank shot.
Javi Jiménez sustained injury and was replaced by Cufré in minute 13. Following this setback, the Martiricos outfit continued to attack the Eibar goal. First Cufré, with a shot saved by Ander Cantero, and later Antoñín, with a shot that sailed a few centimetres above the crossbar, both had options to increase the lead.
Thirty minutes into play, the Blue and Whites were left with 10 men as Escassi was shown a direct red card for a foul on former Malaguista, Yanis Rahmani in front of the goal.
Not long afterwards, a Febas foul on Corpas resulted in a penalty, that he himself scored, but following a VAR check, the goal was disallowed (1-1, 37').
Pablo Guede was forced to restructure the team, bringing on Genaro who took up Escassi's central defence position, replacing Antoñín, leaving Vadillo as the only striker.
Up until half-time, including nine minutes of stoppage time, Dani Martín kept Málaga alive with three interventions from shots by Tejero, Corpas and one of great difficulty by Edu Expósito.
Paulino and Kevin joined the match in the second half, in place of Ramón and Febas, bringing a more offensive character to the gameplay.
In 69’, Fernando Llorente scored a goal that was later disallowed after a VAR check due to a prior foul by Llorente on Víctor Gómez at the start of play.
Guede, despite the numerical inferiority, remained firm in his brave approach, and in minute 75 brought on Roberto for Vadillo.
Minutes later, the visitors went in front with a goal by Fran Sol, who headed into the net a cross from the right by Edu Expósito (1-2, 78').
Although the scenario was not in their favour, Málaga spared no effort and generated another two options to go level. Cufré, coming in from behind on the left, launched a shot to the side of the net, while Roberto finished a deflected cross from the left by Kevin from inside the area.
The definitive blow came at the last minute, with Fran Sol scoring his second goal from a pass by Álvaro Tejero (1-3, 95').
Málaga CF remain on 41 points, with a +7-point cushion above the relegation zone. The next league match is on Friday 29th at 21:00 against UD Las Palmas at the Municipal Gran Canaria.
