Jornada 32: Malaga vs Lorca
After slumping to defeat last weekend and dropping into the fourth relegation slot, Malaga have a chance to bounce back with a home game against second bottom Lorca. The visitors have won only once, (1-0) against Sporting Gijon, in their last nine away games, the rest being defeats in which they failed to score. Malaga of course also have a scoring problem, having only scored 4 times in their last nine matches. So a dour game when a priceless goal would be defended to the hilt was in prospect.
Muniz was forced to make some changes to last week’s team, which played reasonably well against the runaway league leaders, Valladolid. Winger Ernesto picked up an injury in training and is out, but with the return of Valcarce after suspension, the captain resumed his left back position and Calleja moved forward to left wing. Silva was preferred to Gascon in midfield in an otherwise unchanged line-up. The subs’ bench looked interesting with Romero and Serbia U-21 international Stosic returning to contention, along with Chengue Morales, Manu, Gascon and Boy-Wonder, Popo.
Malaga (4-4-2): Goitia; Jesus Gamez, Armando, Jesule and Valcarce; Molinero, Hidalgo, Silva and Calleja; Rosado and Counago.
13,631 spectators are in La Rosaleda to see Malaga kick off defending the Fondo end.
Malaga have a real chance to open the scoring in 6’. Rosado slips a pass wide left to Calleja, who in turn sends in a cross for Counago, but the former Ipswich Town man is just off the pace at the far post with the goal gaping wide in front of him.
The next minute, Malaga pile on the pressure looking for an early goal to settle everybody’s nerves. Hidalgo receives the ball from Rosado near the “D” and makes some space for a shot. He blasts one in but the ball hits the top of the bar as it goes over.
In 11’ there are some appeals for a penalty when Rosado’s goal bound header appears to come off a defender’s hand, but the referee waves play on.
In 13’ Malaga win their first corner. Calleja takes the kick and finds Molinero at the far post. He passes to Rosado who in turn feeds it back to Calleja. The winger lifts the ball just over the bar.
Malaga maintain the pressure in an impressive opening period and Counago has a shot easily saved by visiting keeper, Jauregui in 14’.
In 16’ Jesus Gamez runs onto a pass from Molinero and gets to the by-line before turning and banging in a cross across goal. He finds HIDALGO alone in the box and the midfielder heads home easily. Sheer joy! The early goal Malaga wanted.
Malaga 1 Lorca 0
With the two teams’ poor scoring records, we did wonder whether Muniz would at this point remove his strikers and bring on defenders to protect the 1-0 advantage until full-time. We would have to wait and see.
In 18’ Jesus Gamez was booked for use of the elbow, which could easily have been a straight red.
In 29’ Lorca have their first goal attempt after Calleja loses possession in the centre circle and Rodriguez runs into the box. Goitia has to look lively to make the save.
In 30’ Rodriguez almost latches on to a cross from the left which surely would have been a goal had he timed his run a little better.
Lorca are enjoying a little bit of pressure on Malaga’s goal as the home team have relaxed too much after scoring the opener.
In 31’ Jorge tries on an overhead kick but Goitia saves.
It’s Jorge again in 33’ when he breaks into the penalty box, but his shot goes well wide.
In 35’ Counago seems to have been fouled by the “last man”, but it’s only a yellow for the offender. Calleja does a “Duda” from the free kick, hitting the defensive wall.
The game has opened up and Lorca are still the most offensive side. After some slick interpassing, they force themselves into Malaga’s area again in 38’ but Rodriguez’s shot is straight at Goitia who looks very comfortable in Malaga’s goal.
In 40’ Calleja, Counago and Rosado combine well before Molinero is brought down 20 yards out. CALLEJA makes no mistake this time from the free kick, sending in a curling shot which completely deceives Jauregui. 2-0!!! This is clearly a training ground effort as Calleja runs to bench and cuddles the trainer.
Half-time Malaga 2 Lorca 0
It was a very pleasing half-time period, looking at the scoreboard seeing a two goal advantage. Surely Malaga must win this game now.
After the restart, Malaga’s sluggish start to the second half (a recurring theme throughout this season) allows Lorca to take the initiative. Goitia had to make two excellent blocks on his goal-line in 49’ before Molinero hooked the ball away to concede a corner. A goal for Lorca then would have changed the complexion of the game.
This was a wake up call and Hidalgo was fouled twice in the box in 53’ and unlucky not to be awarded a penalty.
In 55’ Lorca make the first substitution of the game; Thiaw on for Jorge P. Thiaw is a giant striker in the Chengue Morales mould and just as poor.
In 56’ Counago again is too slow to connect to a Hidalgo cross at the far post. This is a pity, because if he had scored, then the game would have been all over and everybody could relax a little. As it was, Lorca continued to show that they weren’t totally beaten yet.
In 57’ Molinero is booked for a studs-up sliding tackle.
In 59’ Jesus Gamez is fouled near the by-line. Calleja takes the kick sending the ball into the crowded penalty box. The ball falls nicely for JESUS GAMEZ, who is standing near the penalty spot and he volleyed home with a net bursting shot. 3-0 now and surely now we can enjoy ourselves at a Malaga game – the first time for a long time.
Malaga 3 Lorca 0
A minute later and Calleja has another chance from a free kick just off the 18 yard line after Molinero was again fouled, resulting in a booking for Israel. However, the winger could not reprise his previous effort and his shot goes just wide.
In 62’ Lorca make another change wit Jorge off for Alexandre.
In 63’ Malaga make a change with Gascon on for Armando. Silva drops back into the centre of defence.
In 66’ another booking for the hapless Lorca team when Alvaro is booked for fouling Rosado. Hidalgo takes the resultant free kick, which goes out for a corner.
Calleja takes the corner from the left and finds HIDALGO alone about fifteen yards out at the back post. The midfielder volleys home to score his second of the game and to put the result beyond all doubt. Again, Hidalgo runs to congratulate the trainer on the bench (not Muniz, mind) as again this seemed to be another result for the training ground.
Malaga 4 Lorca 0
In 71’ Popo comes on for Rosado.
In 76’ 8’3” former Uruguayan international Chengue Morales comes on for Counago.
In 80’ the lively Popo is brought down just outside the penalty area. Hidalgo, going for his hat-trick, tries from the free kick but his shot is just wide of the post.
In 86’ Popo creates another chance when after some tricky footwork he squares the ball across the six yard box to Chengue. The big man hits the ball on the volley and watches as his shot comes back off the post. Molinero is there for the rebound but his shot is blocked by Jauregui.
Full-time Malaga 4 Lorca 0
It’s a convincing win in the end for Malaga, who must continue to win these games against their nearest rivals if they are to climb out of trouble. What is encouraging is that although Malaga’s strikers are quite inept at scoring, the training ground effort at capitalising on set pieces seems to be paying off.
There are still ten games left in the season and Malaga still need to win at least four of them to avoid the drop and keep an eye out for the other results.
The remaining games are as follows:
Ponferradina - away
Elche - home
Salamanca - a
Castilla - a
Vecindario - h
Tenerife - a
Murcia - h
Almeria - a
Cadiz - h
Castellon – a
Ponferradina, next week’s opponents, are another team in the drop zone and so here is another opportunity for Malaga to open the gap between them and their nearest rivals. This game is live on Spanish TV!!!!
Similarly, Malaga’s next home opponents, Elche, occupy the slot just above Malaga in the current table. Your Malaga CF Correspondent will be there.
These two games are must-wins and will go along way to deciding Malaga’s fate for next season. For more information and gossip on Malaga CF check out the www.malagafootballenglish.com web site.