The team continues to gain sensations, and in the second match of the pre-season and first of the tour, the Malaguistas turned the result around and accumulated more minutes and goals this pre-season.
Juande Ramos selected two completely different starting-11s for each half. In the first half, Sandro made his debut, and later scored his first goal as a Malaguista.
Aarón started off in goal, and was joined by a mixture of young and experienced players; Torres, Llorente, Weligton, Juankar, Kuzmanovic, Juanpi, Ontiveros, Chory, Santos and Sandro.
Goalkeeper, Aarón was very successful in various interventions. Weligton also stood out, colliding with the post to stop the ball finding the net. The controversial action of the match was a clear foul on Juanpi that the referee didn’t call in minute 29. The play then provoked a counter attack which lead to a 1-0 lead for the locals.
The Blue and Whites gave their all and equalised in minute 37. A great pass from Chory Castro on the left ended with a header into goal by Sandro, during his debut wearing the Blue and Whites’ shirt.
At half-time the coach selected an entirely different line-up: Samu Casado, Rosales, Luis, Kone, Ricca, Duda, Camacho, Keko, Jony, Nesyri and Charles.
Charles stepped on to the pitch full of motivation, and understood the combination with the midfielders well. In minute 48, a set piece between Duda, Rosales and the Brazilian narrowly missed out on a goal as the striker applied too much force.
It was Keko, also debuting this pre-season, who made the most of Charles gaining possession and his assistance to turn the result around and take a 1-2 lead.
In minute 61, the referee sent off local player, Diallo for a second yellow card after he brought down Keko, in a match which kept getting better for the visitors. Málaga continued with their style of play, and another good wall between Charles and Jony ended in a 1-3 lead on the scoreboard. Jony also showed his great marksmanship in front of the target, and scored with a powerful shot at goal in minute 68.
Reserve team goalkeeper, Samu Casado also made his pre-season debut today, showing an impressive level with a fantastic save from a header in minute 74. The locals tried to make up the result and scored the 2-3 just before the final whistle, leaving no time for anything else.
Line-ups:
KAS Eupen: Van Crombrugge, Diallo, Abdulrahman, Diagne, Lazare, García, Taulemesse, Sylla, Onyekuru, Blondelle and Ocansyl.
Málaga CF: Aarón, Torres, Llorente, Weligton, Juankar, Kuzmanovic, Juanpi, Ontiveros, Chory, Santos and Sandro. Samu Casado, Rosales, Luis, Kone, Ricca, Duda, Camacho, Keko, Jony, Nesyri and Charles played in the second half.
Goals:
1-0, Onyekuru (29’)
1-1, Sandro (37’)
1-2, Keko Gontán (51’)
1-3, Jony (68’)
2-3, Blondelle (90’).
Referee: Jonathan Lardot. Weligton was shown the yellow card in minute 31 and local player, Diallo was sent off in minute 61 with a double yellow.
Information: President Abdullah Al Thani and his KAS Eupen counterpart exchanged gifts at half time. The Málaga owner presented the local club with a beautiful ornament of a silver ship.