Atlético Madrid Vs. Málaga: Málaga Up 2-0 At Halftime, Atlético Looking Dreadful

Before the match kicked-off, both teams stood for a moment of silence in honor of Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros who passed away today after a prolonged battle with brain cancer.

Very cautious opening 15 minutes from sides, as Málaga don’t want to give up anything easy and Atlético was content to be patient and wait for their chance. Atlético had to make an early substitution after defender Luis Perea went down with a hamstring injury. Perea was diagnosed with a torn muscle in his leg and will miss the rest of the season.

The match got heated in the 27th after a Málaga player went down and played continued for nearly two minutes. After the ball finally went out of play, Málaga took exception to Kun Agüero’s dive in the box earlier in the sequence and players exchanged from shoves in the midfield. Duda and Costa both received yellow cards for the handbags.

Málaga opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a lovely goal from Rondon who headed home a nice cross from Jesus Gamez. Rondon got the better of Atlético defender Diego Godín who allowed the forward far to much space in the box. The goal was definitely deserved for Málaga who had the better of possession up to that point. Málaga struck again in the 35 minute as Júlio Baptisa buried a diving header off a Sebastián Fernández cross. Once again, Atlético left far too much space for Málaga to exploit inside the box.

Dream half for Málaga who desperately need the three points to avoid relegation. Atlético on the other hand look uninspired and will need to turn things around in the second half.