Malaga CF win to keep faint chance of a miracle alive
The Blue and Whites are still dependent on results elsewhere but showed spirit to beat Mirandés on Saturday
They're not done yet. A 2-0 home win against Mirandés on Saturday may have kept Malaga CF's faint chances of survival alive going into the penultimate match day.
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.
A dominant performance
The opening goal came early on, after the just 16 minutes, when Julián Delmás's deep cross to the far post was headed in by Alberto Escassi.
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
Only then, with the game seemingly over as a contest, did Mirandés try to make a fist of it. Striker Raúl García came close twice: his first effort from a tight angle was well-held by Rubén Yáñez; his second, from close to the penalty spot, flashed just over the bar after an error from Juande in defence.
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.
Still an outside chance
It seems highly unlikely, but to survive relegation to the third tier, Sergio Pellicer's team must win both of their remaining games and hope that one of Racing Santander and Huesca lose all three of theirs still to play.
