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Malaga's Rubén Castro attempts a shot against Albacete. MARIANO POZO
A clueless Malaga CF pick up yet another defeat at La Rosaleda

A clueless Malaga CF pick up yet another defeat at La Rosaleda

The Blue and Whites lost 2-1 to Albacete after conceding both goals in the first seven minutes and the team was lost both in attack and defence

sergio cortés

Monday, 5 September 2022, 11:07

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Malaga CF picked up their third defeat from the opening four games of the season on Sunday afternoon as they were defeated 2-1 by the now league leaders Albacete at La Rosaleda. The Blue and Whites conceded their goals in the first seven minutes of the match and they offered very little in attack while being ripped apart in defence.

Head coach Pablo Guede made just one change from the Andalusians' first win last week as he tried to keep the team's momentum going, replacing the injured Ramalho with Ramón.

Incohesive start

But five minutes was all it took for Albacete to open the scoring and they doubled their lead just two minutes later. It was easy for the visitors, as Malaga already seemed like imploding within the first couple of minutes.

Javi Jimenez and Escassi looked out of synch; while Fran Sol, a striker, had to defend an opposition counterattack because Febas looked unbothered about chasing his man.

However, more worrying was the coaching staff's lack of awareness about the qualities of Albacete or that Guede's gun-ho approach to games is like a game of Russian roulette.

Escassi did close the gap as he scored the Andalusians' first goal at La Rosaleda this season, as he pounced on a rebounded ball just inside the six-yard box.

Even after pulling one back, Malaga showed no signs of scoring more; there was a general lack of cohesiveness, they left too much space between the lines and they looked defensively broken.

Half-time subs

After lacking any sort of solidity in midfield, Guede was smart enough to shake things up. He brought on Jozabed and N'Diaye, who signed for the club just days ago and whose fitness levels were not the best, though he showed more energy than any other Malaga player.

The substitutions worked, and the new midfield duo shifted the power balance back in the Blue and Whites' favour. Rubén Castro had two chances which would have given Malaga the lead, if not for a well-performing Albacete goalkeeper.

As the minutes went by, the hosts looked clueless. Guede was inserting more and more attacking players, to the point that there were three strikers and three attacking midfielders trying to get an equaliser.

In the end, the lack of a game plan meant that Malaga couldn't do much with the amount of firepower that was on the pitch, and they suffered their third defeat of the season. The Blue and Whites will next play against Huesca on Sunday, 11 September at 9pm.

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