There was a huge crowd at Martircos, the best of the season so far, to watch Sergio Pellicer’s Málaga in action. The coach made two changes to the starting-11 in respect of the previous match in Cádiz. Lombán replaced Diego González in defence whilst Hicham occupied the left wing in substitution of Antoñín.
MCF dominated all aspects of play from the start. Sadiku, following a great pass from Juanpi could have scored in minute 6, whilst Adrían tested Luca Zidane in 11’. The arrivals to the Racing area were constant. In minute 21, Tete Morente almost sent a Hicham cross to the far post. Five minutes later, the winger tried his luck with a long shot, yet it was about to be third time lucky. A run down the right wing and an unstoppable shot from Tete that went straight to the back of the net (1-0, 29’).
Racing, at the mercy of Málaga, were unable to disturb Munir’s goal. Then, before half-time, a Juanpi free kick led Lombán, incorporated into the attack, to outwit Luca (2-0, 39’). A superb first half with the team and fans united by the same objective: winning.
At the start of the second half, Hicham generated a promising opportunity in 48’. It was Cejudo in 52’ who was in charge of Racing’s first shot at the target, but the soft attempt was stopped by Munir. Up to that point, a superior MCF had made 12 shots at goal. This was acknowledged by the dedicated Malaguista fans who didn’t stop cheering on the lads, chanting and even doing the Mexican wave.
Dani Pacheco for Hicham was Pellicer’s first substitution in 67’. Immediately afterwards, Adrián was shown the yellow card that carries federative suspension. Juanpi, in minute 73, tried his luck from a free kick forcing a Luca save. Pacheco, in 78’, sent the ball to the right post. A minute later, there was a standing ovation for a fully fit Keidi Bare who returned to the field of play in place of Adrián.
Renato substituted Juanpi in 87’ in the closing stages of play. Veteran player Carral, following a corner, could have narrowed the gap in 88’. However, the scoreboard didn’t alter and like they did before kick-off, the fans once again sang ‘Málaga, la Bombonera’. The third consecutive victory for Málaga CF, with 37 points in LaLiga SmartBank, situated just three away from the promotion play-offs marked by Elche CF (6th, 40 points). Vamos, Málaga!
