Alberto Escassi, background, gave Malaga an early lead with a powerful header. Marilú Báez

Malaga keep faint chance of a miracle alive

The Blue and Whites are still dependent on results elsewhere but showed spirit to beat Mirandés in front of a restless home crowd

Daryl Finch

Malaga.

Friday, 19 May 2023, 12:11

They're not done yet. A 2-0 home win against Mirandés on Saturday has kept Malaga's faint chances of survival alive going into the penultimate match day.

Malaga

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Mirandés

A strong La Rosaleda crowd (around 18,000) witnessed what was, all told, quite an easy win for the Blue and Whites against a side whose own safety is already guaranteed.

That said, there was a strange atmosphere around the ground, with the majority of fans accepting that relegation to the third tier is a foregone conclusion.

To that end, the 'Grada de Animación', the most vocal supporters groups who congregate in the southernmost stand, put on a show of defiance against how the club has been run and the "mercenaries" on the pitch.

These fans orchestrated a protest which took place an hour before kick-off outside the ground, with much of the anger directed towards the club's administrator for the last three years, José María Muñoz, and the sporting director until February, Manolo Gaspar.

Once in the ground, there was a distinct feeling of indifference towards the game, with many fans remaining practically silent during the first half.

A dominant performance

Minutes later, Pablo Chavarría wasted a good chance from close range but made amends within seconds of the restart following the break.

After some excellent hold-up play, the Argentinian dinked a cross to the back post where Lago Junior was ready and waiting to convert with a header of his own - his fourth of the season.

A wake-up call for Mirandés

For Malaga, substitute Rubén Castro could have put the cherry on top in stoppage time, but his side-footed effort came back out off the inside of the far post.

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