Valencia Vs. Malaga: 1-2 Halftime, Ten Man Malaga Putting Up Superb Fight

Between Valencia’s solid form and Malaga’s defensive struggles, Los Che probably came into this game thinking that they had a relatively easy three points on their hands. This has not proven to be the case, as Malaga have a lead despite going down to ten men early in the first half.

Malaga’s opener probably came as a result of Valencia’s belief that the match wouldn’t be a tough one, as they completely fell asleep on the play. Apoño made a great assist, catching Valencia’s defense napping, and Rondon applied the easy finish.

Their lead didn’t last long, though, as new signing Martin Demichelis put his team’s position in jeopardy. In the 16th minute, he appeared to foul Juan Mata in the box. The call was borderline, but Demichelis put himself into a tough position and the referee into a tougher one. He was shown a straight red card and Juan Mata converted the penalty to tie the score up at 1-1. Things quickly got worse, as Enzo Maresca was forced off for an injury. Manuel Pelligrini was probably considering bringing Manolo into the game after Demichelis’s red card, but Maresca is probably not the man he wanted to replace.

Despite being down to ten men, Malaga would go ahead once again on a fabulous set piece and header in the 35th minute. Nacho Camacho was the man who curled in the delivery and Rondon headed it in, notching a brace.

In reaction to his team’s relatively poor play in the first half, both before and after Malaga got a man sent off, Unai Emery made two halftime changes. Midfielder Ever Banega has replaced defender Angel Dealbert, while forward Roberto Soldado has replaced midfiedler Jordi Alba.