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Turning point with 10 men against Zaragoza (1-1)

All square for both sides in this match during which the Blue and Whites were a man down for more than 80 minutes

Málaga CF faced Real Zaragoza on matchday 16 of LaLiga SmartBank on a cold November night at the iconic La Romareda stadium (Saturday 19, 21:00).

The match, even between both sides in the initial stages, became an uphill struggle for the Blue and Whites (wearing black on this occasion) from very early on. Mel's team was left with one less man on the pitch due to the expulsion of Javi Jiménez. The referee showed the left-back a direct red card in the 14th minute.

The locals made the most of their superiority to increase their presence in the Malaguista area, but neither the defence nor a phenomenal Rubén Yáñez allowed them to take the lead on the scoreboard. In the 29th and 39th minutes, the keeper made extraordinary saves that allowed him to keep a clean sheet. At half-time the scoreboard remained level.

In the second half the tone of play was similar to the first. Real Zaragoza attempted to impose themselves, taking advantage of their numerical superiority, but an imperial Yáñez closed the door on them over and over again. In 63', 64' and 76' the goalkeeper executed some miraculous saves that prevented a Zaragoza goal, to the disbelief of those present.

Haitam joined play in 78’ and barely took a minute to turn everything upside down. The winger entered the area with great ease from the right and opened the scoring with a precise and highly aesthetic shot that found the net at the far post, completely unattainable for the local goalkeeper (0-1, min 79).

The locals then went all out on the attack and finally managed to equalise. Giuliano Simeone took advantage of the sea of legs that obstructed Yáñez's vision to make it 1-1 after 88 minutes.

The last few minutes were very tense but didn’t affect the final result. The match ended in a draw giving MCF a point that, due to the merit of what was played, must be a turning point.

Match summary
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza
LALIGA HYPERMOTION · M16
1
-
1
La Romareda
Málaga CF
Málaga CF
Line-ups
Gabriel Fuentes photo
02Gabriel Fuentes
J. Jiménez photo
03J. Jiménez
Jair Jr photo
03Jair Jr
Bustinza M. photo
04Bustinza M.
Jaume photo
05Jaume79
Juande photo
05Juande
Bermejo photo
10Bermejo
Luis Muñoz photo
08Luis Muñoz77
V. Vada photo
11V. Vada65
Fran Sol photo
09Fran Sol60
A. Ratón photo
13A. Ratón
Febas photo
10Febas
Fran Gamez photo
18Fran Gamez45
Yáñez photo
13Yáñez
Giuliano photo
20Giuliano
14Hervias77
Zapater photo
21Zapater72
E. Burgos photo
20E. Burgos
Lluís López photo
24Lluís López
Escassi photo
23Escassi68
Mollejo photo
28Mollejo79
39Cristian
Substitutes
04Petrovic
M. Reina photo
01M. Reina
A. Francés photo
06A. Francés
02Juanfran L.
Puche photo
07Puche65
Chavarria photo
12Chavarria
Eugeni photo
08Eugeni72
15L. Agbenyenu
Larra photo
12Larra45
Genaro photo
16Genaro68
Francho photo
14Francho79
Jozabed photo
19Jozabed77
16Lasure
F. Villalba photo
21F. Villalba
Nieto photo
17Nieto
Ramalho photo
22Ramalho77
P. Makhtar photo
19P. Makhtar79
Rubén Castro photo
24Rubén Castro
Vigaray photo
22Vigaray
Loren photo
29Loren60
Manu N. Molina photo
23Manu N. Molina
34Haitam
D. Rebollo photo
35D. Rebollo
Goals
(0 - 1)
Haitam
78
Giuliano
87
(1 - 1)
Match officials
Mateo Busquets Ferrer
Referee
Josep Bordoy Homar
Lineman#1
Victor Jiménez Yustos
Lineman#2
Sergio Escriche Guzmán
Fourth official
Iñaki Vicandi Garrido
Video Assistant Referee
David Gálvez Rascón
Assistant VAR Official