Espanyol revival takes Malaga scalp

Malaga 2 - 0 Espanyol

(Colloto 49, S.Garcia 66)

Espanyol continued their revival under Mexican Javier Aguire where as Malaga paid the price for thier lack of bench strength as they succumbed to a home defeat which could prove to b pivotal for their Champions league hopes next season.

Malaga started the game without several first team players with an eye on Champions league quarterfinals against Brossia Dortmund. Diego Lugano started with Welligton as Demichellis was missing. Lucas Piazon and Seba Fernandez were given a chance to impress in place of Joaquin and Julio Baptista. Roque Santa Cruz continued his rotation with Javier Saviola after netting the goal which took Malaga to their first ever quarterfinal appearance in ECL.Espanyol started with their usual starting eleven as expected. With Wokaso on the left and Sergio Garcia as the lone striker.

 

It was Espanyol who started the brighter side as Verdu in 3^rd minute and Mattioni in 5^th minute tested Caballero. Antunes and Santa Cruz then saw their efforts saved by Casilla. Santa Cruz and Joan Verdu also tried their luck from distance but to no avail. Piazon on 38^th and Antunes on 40^th minutes saw their long range efforts go wide.

However in the beginning of the second half, Goalkeeper Willy Caballero, who has probably been the best goalkeeper in LaLiga this season, made a rare mistake when he fumbled a corner in the 49th minute and Diego Colotto volleyed the visitors in front. Malaga looked out of sorts and probably energy too given the high demands of playing in two competitions at this stage of the season. In the 66th minute it was Espanyol who made it 2-0 thanks to  Mubarak Wakaso who burst down the left and crossed for Sergio Garcia to volley a superb second into the top corner.

Malaga fans kept singing chanting and applauding to show why they are one of the best fans all over spain. Malaga failed to create any clear cut opportunity toward the end and match ended 2-0 to Espanyol. Malaga remain sixth behind Sociedad and Valencia with 44 points. They have not won in four LaLiga BBVA encounters now. Espanyol remain 13^th with 35 points and within an outside chance to qualify for Europe. This is quite a turn-around for a team who were staring at relegation before Aguire came.