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Friday, 12 November 2021, 11:30
Malaga Femenino made history this Thursday after beating Zaragoza 4-2 on penalties.
The agonising match lasted almost three hours and marked Malaga Femenino's debut at La Rosaleda stadium under their current name.
It was a match that none of the players will forget: 120 minutes with no goals, extra time and a penalty shootout which sealed the Malaga team's victory and knocked Zaragoza out of the Queen's Cup tournament.
Malaga dominated the first half of the match in terms of possession and pressure, but they couldn't keep it up against their older and higher-ranked opponents (Malaga play in Primera Nacional, Spain's third tier, while Zaragoza are in Segunda División).
The first opportunity to score was taken by Malaga's Mérida, whose shot from more than 30 metres away crashed into the crossbar before the 15th minute.
Zaragoza reacted and brought on Nachula, who gave them more rhythm and created more danger for Malaga.
Just before halftime, Bertuchi, with a direct free kick that collided again with the crossbar, gave hope to the home team for the second half.
As the minutes ticked away however, the goal did not come, which led to inaccuracies and nervousness in a Malaga side who nevertheless dominated possession.
Malaga's Torralvo and Teté continued to create opportunities for goals, but Zaragoza cut these off impeccably and left no gaps for the home side to slip through.
The intensity of the match wore off in the second half due to fatigue, and clear opportunities to score still did not appear.
In the last ten minutes, both teams brought a frantic rhythm to the match in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid extra time (since it was a single-game qualifier).
Extra time was fruitless, so the match went to penalties.
The stand-out player of the match was Malaga's goalkeeper María Arrabal, who saved two goals in the penalty shootouts, giving the local team confidence.
Farfán, Carlota, Clo and Claudia scored for Malaga, leaving Zaragoza's two penalties (scored by Valej and Álvarez) useless.
Malaga Femenino next face La Rambla (Cordoba) on 14 November.
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