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The Juan Francisco Funes era got off to the perfect start as Malaga CF staged a heart-stopping comeback to beat Mirandés 3-2 in the dying moments of their clash at La Rosaleda on Sunday night. Einar Galilea, the Malaga defender, scored the winning goal in the last minute of extra time to ensure that the new manager began his reign with a victory.
The former reserve-team coach fielded a starting eleven similar to former coach Sergio Pellicer’s last line-up, with youngster Ángel Recio stepping in due to absences in central defence. Izan Merino played as the pivot while Carlos Dotor & Dani Lorenzo took on the task of building up attacks from midfield.
Overall, Malaga tried a more controlled, combinative style, and the match appeared to be firmly in their control after Adrián Niño scored twice in the first half.
The first goal came after a perfectly worked move in transition: after Carlos Puga’s incisive pass, Dotor received the ball on the right-hand side from Niño, returning the ball to the centre-forward, who swept the ball high into the side netting with his first touch.
Three minutes later, Niño struck again when a long ball over the top for Joaquín to chase resulted in a mix-up between two defenders and the goalkeeper, allowing the striker to tap home his second into an unguarded net. Both strikes showcased Niño’s sharpness and composure in front of goal.
Fightback
After forcing keeper Alfonso Herrero into a triple save in first-half stoppage time, Mirandés responded after the break, exploiting Malaga’s high defensive line. In the 59th minute, a low through-ball bypassed Galilea and found Alberto Marí, who finished calmly in the one-on-one to reduce the deficit.
Gonzalo petit, who had won his header before Galilea again, converted Salim El-Jebari’s left-side cross.
The goals revealed the weaknesses of the home team at the back, and brought new tension to La Rosaleda.
But despite Mirandés’ comeback, Malaga continued to press for the winner. Galilea didn’t make amends until the very last moment, four minutes after stoppage, when he smashed the ball in the goal, despite the fact that Lobete was half-blocked.
Funes’ first match was a promising one for Funes, even though fans are still calling for a change at the top.
