Málaga CF and Nàstic de Tarragona faced each other in the first leg of the Laliga Hypermotion promotion finals this Saturday evening. It was a full house at La Rosaleda with 29,103 Malaguistas cheering on the team and breaking the Primera Federación record.
Pellicer’s starting-11; A. Herrero; Jokin Gabilondo, Einar, Juande, Víctor García; Manu Molina, Genaro; Dani Lorenzo; Kevin, D. Ferreiro and Roberto.
Málaga came out with momentum, which allowed the rival to surprise on the counterattack. Fortunately, Alfonso showed an extraordinary hand in the first stages of the match.
La Rosaleda pressed and the opportunities started to arrive. First with a great shot from Ferreiro that the rival goalkeeper had to save and then with a shot from Roberto after a great pass from Kevin.
The rival team attempted to increase their movements into the Malaguista area, but the Blue and White defence managed to repel their attacks with ease.
During the final minutes of the first half, when everything seemed to indicate the scoreboard would remain all square, Málaga CF's first goal arrived. Following a corner, after a great team counterattack, Roberto appeared at the far post to make it 1-0 after a great header (45'+2').
Right at the start of the second half, in the 46th minute, the rival equalised with a goal from outside the area. David Concha's shot proved unreachable for Alfonso (46').
Málaga CF didn’t give up their efforts to take the lead and did so in the 58th minute. Einar was brought down inside the area by an opponent when he tried to take a corner and the referee awarded a penalty. A cool, confident Roberto, shot to the base of the right post. The goalkeeper guessed the intention but was unable to stop the superb shot (2-1, 58').
Pellicer’s team took control of midfield and, although they sought to extend their advantage, were unable to overcome the well-positioned rival defence. The referee's three whistles signalled the end of an even match with a close result. The tie will be decided in the return leg next week (Saturday 22, 21:00) at the Nou Estado Costa Daurada.