A night of football in Las Palmas during which Pellicer introduced two changes to his starting-11. Keidi came on in place of suspended Adrián, and Pacheco replaced Hicham in the Malaguista line-up. Local coach, Pepe Mel introduced the promising Pedri as playmaker in his line-up.
Málaga got off to a strong start, especially on the right wing with a highly active Ismael and Tete. Sadiku could have scored in minute 6, followed by an attempt from Juanpi after a clearance by the keeper. After the first quarter of an hour, in 16’, Sadiku was the subject of a foul inside the area that wasn’t called as a penalty by the referee. The Yellows appeared with a dangerous shot in 20’, with a header from Castellano stemming from a corner kick.
Keidi, in 22’, sent the ball to the post following a Pacheco pass. Midway through the first half the game evened up, with ball possession and territorial dominance shared between both sides. Sadiku, in 29’, narrowly missed out on a goal from a shot with insufficient angle. In 35’, there was a double opportunity for UD Las Palmas with Narváez and Rubén Castro bordering the goal. These were the best minutes for the locals against an MCF with more content in their gameplay. At half-time the scoreboard remained at 0-0.
Cifu, in place of Ismael who was shown the yellow card and who was in action with Spain’s Under-19s the day before yesterday, came on in the second half. Mel’s boys, always a danger from the set piece, took the lead with a header into goal from Curbelo following a corner kick (1-0, 48’). Shortly afterwards, Munir prevented a second goal from Rubén Castro (52’) with a save on the line. Pellicer made another substitution in the 60th minute. Keidi, having also received a yellow card like Ismael, was replaced by Hicham.
Munir, in 65’, stopped the 2-0 with a superb save from a Rubén Castro shot and, as can happen in football, the equaliser arrived a minute later. A Dani Pacheco corner assisted Lombán to overcome the local defence to head the ball into the net (1-1, 66’). The third league goal, and the second on the run, for the defender from Asturias. Málaga wanted more. Juanpi, from a direct free kick (74’) and Hicham with a long shot (76’) tried without success to put the visitors in front. Boulahroud, in 86’, replaced Pacheco.
There was no time for either team to tip the score in their favour. The final result was a 1-1 draw and a valuable point for Sergio Pellicer’s men, who are in a provisional 11th place in the standings with 38 points.
