Match Reports

Game 11 of the season and it's the first game in charge of new manager Muniz, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Thursday. A top flight defender in his playing days, Muniz's previous team, Marbella, was renowned for not conceding goals and being strong at the back and in the four training sessions Muniz has had before Saturday's game, he concentrated almost totally in trying to instil this ethos into Malaga's 28 man first team squad. Also on his immediate agenda was to restore some discipline to the team as Malaga have the worst record in Spain for yellow cards and for his first match he finds himself without four regulars, Jesus Gamez, OJ Morales, Romero and Salva, out for suspension.
In addition, he has to contend without the injured Counago, which means that both strikers are unavailable for the game. This means an opportunity for Chengue Morales, the former Uruguayan international striker, who had been frozen out by previous manager Alonso and who had at one time said that he wanted Malaga to rescind his contract so that he could leave the club. So, a new manager comes in and it's all change.
Muniz opts for a 4-1-4-1 formation against Lorca, due to lack of choice as much as anything else. Without either of his normal defensive midfielders, OJ Morales and Romero, available, he pushes centre back Silva into that role. There also a return for Angolan forward, Edgar, on the right wing in place of Saul. But of course it's the return of the giant striker, Chengue Morales, which grabs the prematch headlines.
Malaga (4-1-4-1): Arnau; Molinero, Armando, Cesar Navas and Jesule; Silva; Edgar, Sandro, Hidalgo and Calleja; Chengue Morales.
Lorca, from the Murcia province, have had a mixed start to their campaign as their manager tries to find a formation which suits his squad best. But over the past two games, playing an attacking 4-3-3, they have found some form and won both games convincingly. So the visit of a defensive setup from Malaga, a team at a low ebb, struggling in the league and with a new manager at the helm, made Lorca the prematch favourites.

Unfortunately this game is the first Malaga game of the season not to be shown live on TV or even radio in Andalucia, so I can only pick out the highlights from newspaper articles. One thing to note though as that the game was played in front of only 4000 spectators. Compare this to Malaga's last home game where over 12,000 were there to support the team. This will give some indication of the size of the teams and why it is so important for Malaga to return quickly to the top level.

Malaga did not have the best of starts, going behind in only 12' with an individual goal that Arnau had no chance of saving. However, the 8'3" striker Chengue Morales made his mark in 19', heading down for Sandro to score the equaliser. Chengue was also involved in supplying the pass for Hidalgo, who in 31' put the visitors ahead. Then Cesar Navas added to his long list of errors this season, being adjudged to have fouled a Lorca player in the box in a controversial penalty decision (aren't they all?) before half time. The half time and full time score was 2-2.
Malaga managed another four bookings in the match and although I cannot possibly comment on the performance, we would all have taken a draw from this game before it started. The second division in Spain is a long journey with 42 games, so there are going to be plenty more twists and turns before the end of the season.
The next home game is next week against newcomers Ponferradina, enjoying their first ever season in La Segunda. On paper, before the season started, this would surely have been a home banker for Malaga. Now, we will have to wait and see. Never fear, Your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there!
http://www.canalsur.es/Informativos/Multimedia/2006/11.Noviembre/04/2malagafut.rm