It was a special day in Granada. Within a wonderful pre-match ambience between friendly groups of fans, the lively atmosphere at Nuevo Los Cármenes began to take shape during Málaga's visit, with 18,817 fans in the stands.
On the pitch, Pellicer kept the same starting-11 that defeated SD Huesca last weekend. The line-up consisted of: Alfonso Herrero; Carlos Puga, Nelson Monte, Einar, Dani Sánchez; Manu Molina, Luismi; Yanis Rahmani, Aaron Ochoa, Antoñito Cordero; and Dioni.
Málaga CF came out focused on withstanding the home team's early pressure, and they did so successfully in the first half. Málaga's first chance came from a mistake by local goalkeeper Marc Martínez, who unsuccessfully tried to dribble past Dioni. Dioni won possession and passed to Aaron Ochoa. The homegrown player played a good through ball to Yanis, but his shot was blocked by the Red and White defence.
Yanis Rahmani and Antoñito Cordero tried to open the scoring on several occasions. They attempted long-range shots, missed chances after runs into space, and set-piece plays. The clearest opportunity came just after the half-hour mark, with a great shot from Antoñito Cordero that the local keeper saved impressively.
Granada CF didn't create many opportunities in Alfonso Herrero's area, though they did have a chance through Tsitaishvili, which the Malaguista goalkeeper had to divert to a corner. At half-time, the scoreboard at Nuevo Los Cármenes remained 0-0.
Granada made a strong start to the second half, but Málaga CF held on thanks to some good saves from Alfonso Herrero. However, in the 56th minute, Carlos Neva capitalised on a cross from Hongla on the right to make it 1-0.
In response to the home side's goal, the Blue and Whites reacted brilliantly. Four minutes later, in the 60th minute, Yanis Rahmani won the ball in midfield and passed to Dioni. The Málaga number ‘17’ spotted Antoñito's run, who struck powerfully with his left foot to beat the goalkeeper and level the match at 1-1.
Without creating much danger, Granada CF regained the lead. In a very chaotic play, a clearance by Carlos Puga inside the six-yard box bounced off Uzuni and ended up in Málaga's net (2-1, 77’).
The final stages of the match were wild and frenetic. Málaga CF pushed for an equaliser until the very end and found it in stoppage time. After a corner taken by Antoñito, Nelson Monte secured the 2-2 result from the far post.
However, in one of the last actions of the match, a penalty was awarded to Granada CF (96’) following a foul during the clearance of a corner. Weissman stepped up to take the penalty for Granada, but Alfonso Herrero made a heroic save to deny him the win.
Final whistle, and the 2-2 draw keeps Málaga CF unbeaten this season, leaving the team in a strong position in the standings with 10 points. Next Saturday 28th September, Elche CF will visit La Rosaleda for LaLiga Hypermotion matchday 7.