Sometimes things go well. It is a matter of believing and also of wanting to make them happen. It may have happened before or it may never have happened, but here we are. He Malaga CF He is alive, he has more faith than ever and he beat Cartagena this Sunday (1-0) in a match with which the city, La Rosaleda and even fans from abroad vibrated to see the blue and whites one step closer to salvation. Five points, neither more nor less, six days from the end.
It had to be the day. There was no other option than to turn the duel against Luis Carrión’s men into a victory. The Martiricos team had to be impregnable at home. The shapes did not matter, the only thing that mattered was to get the head out of the pot and it was done. The blue and white outfit, one piece and accompanied by 25,314 malaguistas who made April 16, 2023 an unforgettable dayhas returned all the optimism that disappeared after the meeting with Racing -to give an example-.
After the reception, the mosaic and the anthem, the objective of Sergio Pellicer’s team was clear: to temper emotions. There was no need to win the match with anxiety in two minutes. Cartagena had a few shots at the beginning, Málaga CF also tested with a header and little else. The Martiricos team was much safertaking advantage of all the spaces that Efesé left behind the midfielders and full-backs with Chavarría as the main axis.
The Argentine had warned once, had placed a very dangerous center and the third time… it happened. What happens in great acts of faith happened. The blue and white team used the bands very well. started from the right Fran Villalba to put a center, fell on the left with Cristian and the man from Marbella, with more faith than reason, put the ball in the small area for Chavarría to finish off almost without wanting it (1-0, min. 21). Not a bad place to start.
Far from it came peace. Hopefully. Those from Martiricos were able to score two goals through Rubén Castro. The inertia was clear, invited to gain some security with a second goal. Although the people of Cartagena did not relax. Only a bad control of Feuillassier prevented equalizing the score. The last 10 minutes were left over for Málaga CF due to the previous effort. The same thing that was left over Esteban Burgos that absurd hand to cut off a long pass in midfield it might as well have been red. However, that 1-0 was the only thing that mattered.
control and head
The second part did not begin with much more relaxation. Juande was very close to making an unforgivable mistake in the area, but he himself took it upon himself to correct it so that Jairo wouldn’t do his thing. That superiority of the first 35 minutes had disappeared. Soccer is already stuck. It must also be taken into account that Cartagena wanted the victory to be placed in the sixth position that would give them the right to play the play off, but the steps back from the blue and whites were evident.
The incredible clearance of Ramalho It was the best example of what the party was going to be from then on. He prevented a goal that seemed practically sung, but no one gave up. No one thought for a second that this could go away. That everyone was calm? Well, not up to those limits, but Yes, it is true that the feeling of security was much greater than other days.
Everything that didn’t happen in the second half happened in the final discount. The referee first sent off Manolo Reina -to which Pellicer gave a more than interesting look- for interrupting the game by throwing a second ball into the field from the bench. And then came the climax. Escassi touched the ball with his arm in the area. Datkovic tried to finish off that same ball earlier, but it was offside. Explained like this it seems simple and obvious, but the referee began to signal absolutely contradictory things.
In the end, victory, which is the most important thing. Three fundamental points to believe in life and in LaLiga SmartBank 2023/2024. Five of salvation with six days ahead.