Match Reports

Malaga travelled to the far north of Spain, involving an overnight stay in Madrid on the journey north to Vittoria, near the French border, to play Alaves in their first away game of the season.

In front of 6,278 spectators and a live Canal+ TV audience, the game was delayed for a minute's silence in honour of Sevilla player, 22 years old Antonio Puerta, who died on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack during Sevilla's opening game last weekend against Getafe.

Manager Muniz unsurprisingly chose the exact same squad and team after last week's opener at home, in the 3-0 win against Salamanca.

Teams:

Alavés (4-2-3-1): Bernardo; Edu Alonso, Pablo Casar, Mateo and Tarantino; Astudillo, Mehdi Lacen; Samuel Bayón and José María Mena, (Wellington Paulista, m. 59) and Toni Moral; David Aganzo.

Málaga (4-1-3-2): Goitia; Jesús Gámez, Helder Rosario, Weligton and Rossato; Paulo Jorge, Antonio Hidalgo, Carpintero, Calleja, Salva and Baha.

The early play was a midfield battle with no team able to dominate proceedings, although Alaves seemed to be camped in Malaga's half without threatening the visitor's goal.

The first shot on target in the game came from Antonio Hidalgo, when the ball came to him after a corner in 27', but it went straight into the arms of Bernardo in the Alaves goal.

Then in 30', Alaves went close when Jose Maria Mena got his head to a corner at the other end and with Goitia beaten, watched the ball come off the far post.

Alaves intensified their territorial dominion, with very physical soccer, as Malaga's line-up, with Carpintero playing very deep just in front of the back four, meant that Hidalgo was alone in the centre of midfield.

However, in 33' Salva had a great opportunity to open the scoring, turning onto a pass at the edge of the box with just the goalkeeper to beat, but his left foot shot went just wide of the post.

Mena continued to be the home side's main threat and in 44', required Malaga keeper Goitia to make a great point blank reaction save.

Half time Alaves 0 Malaga 0

After the interval, the game continued in much the same vein with Alaves pressing and Malaga on the back foot. For Malaga, Salva remained the target for any forward pass and he received some rough treatment from the Alaves defenders.

In 50', Samuel Bayón sent in a great shot from outside the area after splendid play from Toni Moral and again Goitia kept his side in the game with a good save.

Malaga continued in second half with the same tactical scheme of the first half, depending on strong defence to try to surprise Alaves in a counterattack.

Malaga's formation relies on the two wingers to create the space and deliver crosses to the two strikers. However, both Paulo Jorge and Calleja were ineffective, even though they did try swapping wings on several occasions. So it was no surprise that both were substituted, Paulo Jorge by Cheli in 55' and Calleja by Eliseu Pereira in 69'. In fact it wasn't until Eliseu came on and starting running at the Alaves defence down the left wing that Malaga came to life, in what was looking to be a stalemate 0-0 draw.

Before he came on, Iñaki Goitia in Malaga's goal was forced to make another fine save in 68' pushing the ball over the crossbar from a header by Alaves defender Pablo.

Alaves almost scored a cheeky goal, when Bernardo booted a long ball from his penalty area for Brazilian striker Wellington Paulista to run onto in 75'. He was one on one with Goitia who rushed off his line and indeed out of his penalty area to try and deny the Brazilian. Paulista tried to lift the ball over the goalkeeper's head but his shot went wide.

The following minute, Salva limped off to be replaced by Roberto Peragon, making his debut for Malaga.

In 78' after another excellent run down the left by Eliseu Pereira, who sent in a measured cross which was met by a well placed header from Roberto Peragon, which flashed into the net with his first touch of the ball.

Alaves 0 Malaga 1

The goal seemed to inspire Malaga who should have made it 0-2 when Eliseu, completely alone, shot over the crossbar in 81'.

At the other end, Alaves forward David Aganzo had the chance to tie the score in 85', but shot past the near post, by few centimetres.

Finally, Cheli had a great chance to increase Malaga's lead in 87' when he received a cross from Eliseu, but with the goal wide open he shot over from 8 yards.

So, Malaga took three golden points in their first away game of the season, which puts the team from the Costa del Sol at the top of the league, with two games played. Only 40 more to go!

Downside: in a very physical game, the referee booked the following:

Alaves: Pablo Casar (58'), Wellington Paulista (72'), David Aganzo (74'), physio Iñaki 'Tasio' Fernández de Monje (73') and Sergio Rodríguez (80');

Málaga: Weligton (19'), Javi Calleja (42'), Cheli (72'), Antonio Hidalgo (79') and Eliseu (90+3').

Posted by malagacf_correspondent at 8:02 PM | Permalink

Malaga made the long trip north to Vitoria to face Alaves without their new January sales striker, 32 year old, former Osasuna player, Ivan Rosado, who was without a club for 18 months and needs both matches and heavy training sessions to get him up to match fitness. With the only striker available to Muniz being Malaga B striker, Ador, (with Counago still out injured), and encouraged by the display of the team last week in the 0-0 draw with Hercules, he put out an unchanged team, again in the attacking 4-3-3 formation.

Malaga (4-3-3): Arnau; Jesus Gamez, Armando, Jesule and Valcarce; Sandro, Silva and Hidalgo; Perico, Popo and Jonaton Valle.

This was a courageous thing for Muniz to do away from, for such a defence minded manager. But Malaga's league position, still a precarious 4 points from the fourth relegation spot, and the facts that Malaga had not won away from home since beating Sporting 3-1 in September and that Alaves were unbeaten in the league at home this season, having had only conceded 4 goals, meant that it was time to be a bit daring.

There was only 4,761 at the game, but in temperatures of a high of +6C in the north of Spain and the game live on television, perhaps this was no surprise.

Popo was replaced after only 34 minutes by Edgar to provide more power up front and although the first half was about two teams cancelling each other out in midfield, I didn't really think that Malaga were really threatened.

Second half and one piece of magic in 58' with Sandro supplying right down the middle (as they have to play direct down the middle in a 4-3-3 system and when the front men are so small) to Jonaton Valle, who in turn slipped a beautiful pass for Perico to score an excellent goal. It was in fact Malaga's only shot on goal in the whole game!

Then with 30 minutes still to go, Muniz brings on Ador for Jonaton Valle and the team resorts to the 4-1-4-1 defensive formation to defend the one goal lead. Edgar moved wide right and Perico wide left, with the two "organisers", Hidalgo and Sandro in the centre of midfield. It was not attractive and a fairly nail biting experience and the last half hour was spent in Malaga's half with some desperate defending.

Alaves had a few chances with Brazilian Wellington Paulina causing all sorts of problems with his direct running. But the biggest let-off was when Arnau was on the ground after pushing away a shot (which he should have smothered) and the ball was immediately sent back into the six yard box to Alaves's Australian international striker Aliosi, standing on his own. Inexplicably he contrived to blast the ball over from 4 yards with the goal open and a simple tap in being sufficient.

Full-time Alaves 0 Malaga 1

So, Muniz got his first away win since joining Malaga, although he took a big gamble with his tactics after the goal was scored. He was lucky this time but we hope that he doesn't try this every week.

Malaga have now gone five games conceding only one goal (that howler from Arnau in injury time away to Cadiz). The main reason for this is the consistent form of Jesule who seems to sweep up everything around his fellow defenders and prevents the ball from getting anywhere near Arnau. Malaga's problem, especially with their main goal scorer Salva away on loan with Levante, is who can be relied on to get the goals they need to win games. They may yet resort to promoting seventeen years old U-18 star Plata to the top team, as Ador never looks like scoring. Perhaps Ivan Rosado will be the answer?

Still, the win should boost the team's confidence and hopefully this is the start of better things to come in the next few weeks.
The only worry after the game with Alaves was Jesus Gamez's injury. The full back went down on his own in the Alaves penalty box waiting for a corner and had to leave the field, to be replaced by Molinero. Such injuries can be the most serious and it looked bad to me.

Bring on Albacete next Sunday at La Rosaleda! Your Malaga CF Correspondent will there.

Posted by malagacf_correspondent at 11:49 AM | Permalink

It's the first home game of the new season and (we'll be saying this many times this year) Malaga are up against promotion rivals, on this occasion, Alaves from the Basque Country, who were also relegated from La Liga last year.
An 8 o'clock kick-off, 28C temperature and 15,000 inside La Rosaleda, and the featured live match on Canal+, the Spanish subscription satellite channel; the ground was buzzing with excitement as the new board, new management team, "new" 33,000 FIFA standard stadium and the team make their first official home debut since Lorenzo Sanz bought the club in July.
Ten players have gone and ten new players signed in a fascinating six week period in the club's history and many predicted that all of the new team(s) at Malaga would need some time to gel. However in the cut-throat business that is football, there is no time for such niceties and new manager Marcus Alonso knows that he has to try and win every game from Jornada 1 until Jornada 42 on 17 June 2007. Malaga's aim is promotion and Alonso must produce or he's out.
After last week's solid opener against Hercules in Alicante, it was no surprise that Alonso opted for the same starting eleven, as he awaits the new signings to gain fitness and knowledge of their new team-mates.

Malaga (4-2-3-1): Arnau; Jesus Gamez, Cesar Navas, Silva and Jose Mari; Romero and OJ Morales; Edgar, Counago and Calleja; Salva.

Alaves (4-2-3-1): Bonano; Edu Alonso, Cesar, Mateo and Branden; Astudillo and Carpintero; Wesley, Navarro and Del Moral; Aliosi.

The first action of any note is a booking after 10' for Carpintero for a foul on Counago, as both sides take time to settle.
Next in the book after 17' is Calleja for dissent after claiming that he was fouled and that the offender should be carded. Outcome? No foul given and Calleja booked!
In 19' the first attack from Alaves produces an effort from Aliosi whose free header goes well wide.
It's 21' before any shot of note from the home side. First Jesus Gamez tries a long throw in from the right touchline. The ball emerges from the crowded box to Jose Mari, standing 40 yards out. The young left back hammers a volley low and wide of the post.
In 26' Counago picks up a loose ball in the centre circle and goes on a run into the Alaves half. As he reaches the penalty box he produces a shot which Bonano did well to turn round for a corner.
In 28' Edgar beats three men on a run down the right but his cross goes out for a goal kick.
In 30' Calleja has a chance after Counago is fouled just outside the box. Romero takes it short to Calleja who drives it low and wide.
The best chance of the game so far falls to Alaves's left back Branden in 35' who tries a shot from fully 45 yards which catches the Malaga defence static, standing watching. Branden intercepts a pass as Malaga try to play their way out of their half and unleashes a powerful drive which comes off the far post with Arnau rooted to the spot. This is a reminder to Malaga that they will need to keep their shape and that there are going to be no easy games in this division.
Malaga's best effort follows two minutes later. Edgar is fouled on the halfway line. Spanish U-21 international Jesus Gamez takes the kick and sends it deep into the penalty box. Salva times his jump perfectly but he heads the ball just over.
Another concern for Malaga in 40' when Aliosi beats the offside trap on the halfway line to run into an empty Malaga half with only Arnau in front of him. The striker advances towards goal with the Malaga defenders claiming offside in vain and having to chase the dangerous forward. Fortunately, Aliosi's shot goes well wide of the far post.
Alaves are having more of the game at this point and Navarro forces Arnau to make his first save of the game after 42'.
The following minute, Romero shows his frustration with a studs-up tackle in midfield and becomes Malaga's third booking of the game.
On 45' Branden is booked for barging Edgar off the ball.

Half-time: Malaga 0 Alaves 0

Malaga produce the first chance of the half in 47' when Edgar from the centre circle dinks a nice little ball in the air for OJ Morales, who has momentarily abandoned his more usual defensive position and runs into the box. His header though is straight at Bonano.
In 51' Salva is brought down in the box as he rises to meet a cross from Edgar. The referee is standing close by and says, "Nada. No penalty".
In 53' Calleja uses a little bit of clever footwork down the left wing to create some space for a cross into the box. SALVA times his run to the far post and his jump perfectly to beat Carpintero to the ball. He heads it down powerfully and although it took a slight deflection it beats Bonano easily and goes into the net at the near post. GOAL!!
Malaga 1 Alaves 0
Salva has taken a head knock in scoring and has to go off for treatment for a few minutes.
In 60' Edgar receives an ovation for his efforts when he is substituted by young winger Saul. Romero takes over the captain's armband.
In 63' Wesley is replaced by De Lucas for Alaves.
In 70' Gentil comes on for Del Moral as Alaves change their attacking personnel to get back into the game.
In 72' Counago gets an ovation as he is substituted. However there is a greater roar from the crowd for Sandro who comes on for him. Sandro is making his home debut on his return to the club in which he was an integral part of the most successful period in Malaga's history when they reached the later stages of the UEFA Cup in 2002.
Sandro is a "ma ba'" sort of player, always demanding the ball in midfield and looking to make the creative pass. In 78' he takes a free kick short to Jesus Gamez who in turn sends a delightful pass for Saul to run onto to down the right wing. The youngster jinks past two defenders before sending in an excellent cross into the box from the by-line. Salva again times his run and jump perfectly but this time he is up against two defenders and the ball slips just past for a corner.
In 79' and for the second game in a row, Saul is booked, although it was not clear why. The fourth booking of the game for Malaga.
In 85' goalscorer Salva is replaced by 8'9" giant Uruguayan international, Chengue Morales.
In 87' Sandro and Chengue combine well with neat interpassing finishing with a cheeky chip from Sandro which saw Chengue's header fly just wide of the far post.
In 89' it's the Sandro and Chengue combination again. This time it falls to Chengue to provide the final pass but it's intercepted by a defender.
In the final minute Sandro sends a ball into the right hand channel for Saul to chase but Bonano races from his line to beat him to the ball at the edge of his box.
Full-time Malaga 1 Alaves 0

An encouraging performance from Malaga with plenty of skill and movement and chances created. There are still some good players in the squad as yet unseen so we can look forward to some good football in the weeks to come. More importantly, that's two wins out of two against potentially tricky opposition with no goals conceded.
Next week, Malaga travel to Albacete (relegated two seasons ago and, yes, promotion contenders for this season) another tough match.
The following week, Malaga are back at home to Numancia (another promotion rival and like Albacete, relegated only two seasons ago). Never fear, Your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there!




Try these links:

http://www.canalsur.es/Informativos/Multimedia/2006/09.Septiembre/03/malaga.rm

Posted by malagacf_correspondent at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A strange start to the season with no team (apart from maybe Celta Vigo, with wins against Malaga, Real Madrid and Villarreal) going really great guns unlike the English and Scottish leagues. It's pretty bad in England where halfway through September and the pundits are discussing who might be runners-up to Chelsea.
Not so in Spain. Real Madrid have lost twice in their first three games and face a difficult tie at home to Athletic tonight. (Live on CanalSur, 22:00h kick-off - I will be watching as Jonathan Woodgate makes his debut 13 months after moving from Newcastle).
Bottom club after four games is Villarreal, although they are doing quite nicely in the Champion's League. So Malaga's also indifferent start has to be put into perspective. Their problems for me are in the midfield, where they were solid last year, based on the triangle of Romero and Juanito at the back, with Miguel Angel slightly more advanced. Romero sustained an injury in the opening fixture against Celta and is due to return in this Sunday's away game at Mallorca. In the summer, Michel Angel was transferred to Andalucian neighbours, Real Betis, whilst Juanito was also transferred to ..................... Alaves! He got stick during the game every time he went near the ball as not only is he a former favourite but he was born and brought up in Malaga - he shall never be forgiven for leaving his home town club.
Tapia has of course brought in replacements, but in the first three games he has already used 17 players as he tries to get the right blend. In last night's game, he tried a new line-up in the centre of midfield, with Anderson and Nacho at the back and Hidalgo in the advanced role. Edgar retained his place ahead of Juan Rodriguez after his goal against Athletic on Sunday and Morales is preferred to Salva up front in a much changed team.
Malaga (4-2-3-1): Arnau; Gerardo, Cesar, Fernando Sanz and Valcarce; Anderson and Nacho; Edgar, Hidalgo and Duda; Morales.
Alaves, newcomers to La Liga after a few seasons in La Segunda, also have had a poor start to the season with two defeats and a draw in their opening three games. On Sunday, they were beaten at home 3-4 by this year's biggest surprise so far, Getafe, with Brazilian striker Nene snatching a hat trick and still seeing his team lose all three points. So they came to last night's match clearly intent on getting something from the game. We have seen these sort of matches before, even though it is still very early in the season, where the away team camps in their own half with eleven men behind the ball.
Alaves (4-2-3-1): Bonano; Alonso, Juanito, Lacen and Pellegrino; Wesley and Astudio; de Lucas, Jandro and Nene; Aloisi.

Alaves were slightly disconcerting for me at the beginning as their away strip (their home strip being identical to Malaga's blue and white stripes) was the tangerine and black of Dundee United and for a wee moment I was back in Scotland watching Raith Rovers playing the "Arabs". Then of course I came back to reality. It was a 21:00h kick-off, it was dry, I was dressed in tee-shirt and shorts and the temperature was about 24C.
True to expectation, Alaves set their stall out very early on, keeping possession, passing along the back four and killing time from the first minute! Malaga's frustration was not helped by some very fussy refereeing, with the game constantly being stopped (quite unnecessarily, in my view) for niggly fouls and free kicks. Brazilian Anderson was looking the best Malaga player in these early stages, trying and succeeding to intercept Alaves's short passes and trying to build something for Malaga to spring from.
The first incident of any note came in the 11th minute when Aloisi, signed from Osasuna in the close season, was booked for persistent fouling. The 11th minute!
It was the 13th before we had a shot on goal from either side. Gerardo took a long throw on the right wing deep in the Alaves half and found Hidalgo, who spun and shot powerfully from the edge of a crowded penalty box. But the shot went wide of the target.
Alaves continued to pass the ball between the back four and deny Malaga possession and it almost seemed that they were wasting and playing out time - it was quite clear they had come for the draw.
It was fully 21' before Alaves ventured into Malaga's half and Nene tried his luck from 40 yards and watched his effort go well over.
In 24' Duda was brought down on the left wing and was carried off on a stretcher (only to return two minutes later, looking none the worse). In the meantime Gerardo took the kick but it went straight into Bonano's grateful arms.
In 31' Morales intercepted a loose ball at halfway and started on a run. The 8'6" Uruguayan is impressive in full flight and he was bearing down on goal when Juanito stuck a leg in and robbed him of the ball. Morales kicked him back in frustration and was promptly booked.
The next minute Hidalgo forces a great save from Bonano after receiving an inch perfect cross from Edgar who had made space with an electric run down the right wing.
In 36' it's the first real goalmouth action at Malaga's end. In receiving a headed backpass from Fernando Sanz, Arnau was adjudged by the linesman to have carried the ball over the touchline and a corner was awarded. The luminous yellow booted de Lucas took the kick and Arnau had to make an instinctive point blank save from Aloisi. When the front man barged into the keeper to collect the loose ball, the referee blew for a free kick and the danger was over.
Alonso was booked in the 37th minute for a tackle from behind on Duda. From the free kick, Morales got himself into a scoring position but was offside.
A great chance for Malaga in the 39th minute as they started to impose themselves more on the game. Anderson made a short pass to Duda, who spotted a fine diagonal run from right to left by Edgar. However, instead of shooting at goal, the Angolan winger elected to try to find Morales and the chance was wasted.
In 40' Anderson finds Edgar on the right wing and he sets off on a trademark run with three defenders chasing him. Inevitably he's brought down and Duda crosses over to the right wing to take the kick. He finds giant centreback Cesar's head but the powerful header sickeningly comes back off the post.
Another chance from a freekick just before half time. Duda takes a freekick just outside the box after Edgar had been brought down again. The poor kick rebounds off the defensive wall but falls to Morales who has the fleetness of mind to turn and lay the ball on for Edgar. The shot however is blocked in the crowded area.
Half Time 0-0
After the break, Duda and Edgar have swapped wings and win a free kick in 47', but again the little Portuguese hits the wall.
In 49' Anderson is booked needlessly for obstruction on the halfway line.
On the left wing now Edgar finds Duda wide on the right. He moves inside to get the ball on his left foot and his effort brings a fine one handed save from Bonano.
It's all Malaga now and Nacho swings in a lovely cross from the left to find Morales's head in the 6 yard box, but the big striker tries to be too clever and his glanced effort slips past the post.
Some neat interpassing play between Hidalgo, Nacho and Anderson gives the former a chance when he accepts the return ball but his shot goes wide.
Then in 59' Edgar is brought down just outside the box after an excellent through ball from Nacho. Before the kick can be taken, Tapia decides it's time to go for a more attacking line-up and introduces strikers Salva and Paco Estaban for the upset- about- being- substituted Morales and Edgar. Malaga switch to a 4-4-2 formation, with Nacho moving to the left wing, Duda on the right.
It takes time for this new formation to gel and Alaves get back into their frustrating play and time wasting antics.
It's 71' before we see Malaga back in attack. Paco Estaban bursts down the right and sends a powerful cross right over Salva's head. Fortunately, Nacho is able to collect it and send it back in from the left. Again it misses Salva in the middle, but Paco Estaban is able to volley in a shot which produces a spectacular save from Bonano.
In 75' Manu comes on for the tiring Hidalgo. He takes over the right wing, Duda switches to the left and Nacho moves inside.
In his first kick, Manu slides the ball inside to the advancing Gerardo. From fully 35 yards, he sends in a piledriver which had the keeper beaten but Juanito manages to get in the way of and concede a corner.
In 77' Manu is booked for pushing.
Nacho breaks down the left in 80' and finds Salva with another excellent cross, but the big striker heads over.
In 84', perhaps the best chance yet comes from a Duda corner on the right. He finds Salva in the clear and the striker powerfully heads the ball downwards towards goal. However, the ball bounces off the ground and goes over.
In 85' Anderson is booked for a tackle from behind. It's his second booking and he's off! With him gone and Malaga down to 10 men, it's game over and Alaves get what they set out for - a 0-0 draw.
Full time Malaga 0 Alaves 0

Posted by malagacf_correspondent at 1:42 PM | Permalink