Match Reports

We made the two hour trip up the Mediterranean coast to El Ejido, along with a 1000 other Malaga supporters, to see if Malaga could make history by beating the previous best start in the Second Division of five wins and a draw by beating Poli Ejido to make it six out of six.

Salva was again out injured and so too was Carpintero, both injured during the week's training sessions , so Muniz was forced to changed his winning side. His changes were minimal, bringing in Apono to replace Carpintero as defensive midfielder and drafting in Ivan Rosado to replace Salva on the bench.

Teams:

Poli Ejido (4-2-3-1): Bello Serans; De Muner, Rodri, Tena, Almirón; Usero and Juan; Gerardo, Moreno and Mario Bermejo; Jorge Molina.

Málaga: (4-1-3-2): Goitia ; Jesús Gámez, Hélder Rosário, Weligton and Rossato; Apoño; Paulo Jorge, Hidalgo and Calleja: Peragón and Baha.

Malaga got off to the best of starts by going ahead after only 12 minutes. The ineffectual Paulo Jorge sliced his cross into the box, where Baha and Peragon were waiting. It didn't reach either of them, but instead went straight to a defender, who in turn sliced his clearance. Baha was first to pounce and slide the ball in front of the unmarked PERAGON, standing alone at the far post and the little striker stroked the ball home from 6 yards.

Poli Ejido 0 Malaga 1

Although Malaga were in their usual first half formation i.e. strong defence, no midfield and two hardworking strikers, Poli Ejido could not take advantage and the game became a scrappy affair with the ball spending long periods in outer space high above the playing surface.
The only shots on goal were from Baha in 17 minutes which was weakly struck and went straight to Bello Serans in the Poli goal and Molina and Bermejos for Polideportivo with shots on the half hour that Goitia was able to gather with ease.

Half time Poli Ejido 0 Malaga 1

It was no surprise that the continually underperforming Paulo Jorge was taken off at half time, with the direct substitution of Cheli on the right wing. The new player made an immediate impact with strong runs down the right wing which surprised the local left back with his pace and skill.
But it was Poli Ejido who started the brighter and started to impose themselves on the Malaga defence. The two central defenders, Rosario and Weligton, did not look so commanding in this match as in previous games and the local team seemed to grow in confidence. They got their reward in 53' when a corner swung across from their right met their centre forward's head for a free header (Rosario was nowhere near him) but the striker's effort went high over the bar. But, what's this, the referee is pointing to the spot! Weligton had wrestled another player off the ball onto the ground and the referee had no hesitation in awarding the penalty. BERMERJO made no mistake with a well taken spot kick.

Poli Ejido 1 Malaga 1

As has happened in previous games when Malaga have suffered such a set back, they went up the field and scored again! Hidalgo, who had hitherto been anonymous, appeared on the left wing and was pressed by the right back into the corner. He somehow managed to get free and run along the by-line and the goalkeeper Bello Serans came out of his goal to try and stop him. Hidalgo however managed to get the ball into the box where Calleja was waiting but the ball was deflected into his own net by TENA.

Poli Ejido 1 Malaga 2

The game was still evenly balanced although Malaga had the one goal advantage and were determined to hold onto it.
In 78' Eliseu came on for the tiring Calleja. Again his impact was palpable as he has genuine pace and is very willing to run the length of the park with the ball, which he did on a number of occasions, easing the burden of his defence and creating a counterattacking move.

Rossato, the Brazilian left back with the shot of Roberto Carlos, took a free kick from 30 yards, after Eliseu had been hacked down in 81' after one such mazy run. His shot whizzed past the wall and everybody in the box and Bello Serans did well to stop the shot, but was unable to hold onto the ball. He spilled it and PERAGON nipped in first to tap home his second of the match from close range.

Poli Ejido 1 Malaga 3

The game was won, wasn't it? Poli Ejido didn't think so and in 85' substitute Juli scored an excellent goal from 25 yards after some neat passing moves in midfield to make the final minutes a bit nervy for the visitors.

Poli Ejido 2 Malaga 3

With the small crowd of local fans driving them, the home team went all out for the equaliser and in the final minutes struck the woodwork twice as Malaga were reduced to some desperate defending.

Nonetheless, they could have extended their lead in the final minute of stoppage time when Eliseu took the ball from his own half and ran the full length of the pitch with Hidalgo and Baha running along with him in support down the centre of the field. However, instead of passing square to either of his team-mates the winger went for glory and shot well wide.

Full time Poli Ejido 2 Malaga 3

An excellent result for Malaga, if not an excellent performance, but their 100% record remains intact and, with Numancia being beaten 0-2 by Sporting, extending their lead at the top of the table to four points.

Next week they have a chance to make it seven wins in a row against Canary Island strugglers Las Palmas at La Rosaleda. Never fear, your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there.

Clasificación

1 Málaga 18
2 Sporting 14
3 Numancia 13
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4 R. Ferrol 13
5 Hércules 11
6 Sevilla At 11
7 Castellón 10
8 Gimnástic 10
9 R.Sociedad 10
10 Córdoba 9
11 Elche 8
12 Tenerife 8
13 Eibar 7
14 Celta 7
15 Cádiz 7
16 Xerez 6
17 Granada74 5
18 Salamanca 4
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19 Las Palmas 4
20 Alavés 3
21 Poli Ejido 3
22 Albacete 1