A great afternoon was enjoyed on Saturday at the Ciudad Deportiva Fundación MCF. The Malaguistas packed the stands at Pitch 4 to watch the match, corresponding to matchday 16 of Group 3 in the Segunda Federación, which pitted Málaga CF femenino, third before kick-off with 29 points, against CD Sporting Club de Huelva, who were second, one point ahead.
For this fixture, Héctor Díaz set up his side in a 1-4-2-3-1 formation with Amor Leigh in goal; Lorena Herrera, Jeni, Yoli Peche and María Farfán forming the back four; Marina and Andrea Ríos in central midfield; Elena, Andrea Herrero and Alicia operating behind the striker; and Futu leading the line with plenty of movement.
The match got off to an even start, with both teams aware of its importance and neither able to impose their style in the opening half hour, which was marked by a battle for control in midfield and left little room for clear chances.
From that point on, the Malaguistas found greater depth and began to put pressure on the Huelva goal. Andrea Ríos tried her luck from distance with a free kick that visiting goalkeeper Paula saved comfortably.
Futu tried again shortly after, just before the ‘11’ herself opened the scoring. Elena beat her marker and drove into the box, delivering a dangerous cross that was left loose in the area after a save from the opposing goalkeeper, and Futu sent it into the net (1–0, 41').
The goal lifted the team, who came close to doubling their advantage before the break. Andrea Herrero won back possession high up the pitch with an excellent pressing effort, laid it off to Elena, but she was unable to get the better of the goalkeeper in the one-on-one.
After the restart, the team maintained the same level of focus as in the first half and had to put in more defensive work in response to Huelva’s pressure.
Héctor Díaz made changes to keep MCFF fresh and intense. In the 61st minute, Noemi came on to give a hard-working Marina a rest after she had taken several knocks. In the 76th, Águeda entered to initially take up Futu’s attacking position and occupy the centre-backs with a more positional role. The substitutions were completed in the 88th minute, when Encarni and Yessenia replaced Lorena Herrera and Andrea Herrero.
Until the final whistle, the team stayed focused and didn’t allow any clear chances to a Sporting de Huelva side pushing forward, looking for balls into space and late counterattacks, with no change to the scoreline.
With this victory, Málaga CF femenino move into second place with 32 points. Their next fixture is on Sunday 8th at 12:00 away to the leaders, Sport Extremadura CD.