| Goals | Goals |
|---|---|
| 5. Martin Demichelis (49’) | |
| 18. Eliseu (70’) |
Malaga punish ten-man Sevilla
A clinical second-half performance from Malaga earned them maximum points in La Liga as they defeated Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday night.
The Anchovies opened the scoring early in the second half through Martin Demichelis, before Eliseu Pereira sealed the win from the penalty spot following Federico Fazio’s dismissal.
The hosts dominated the first half and came close to taking the lead in the 3rd minute when Alvaro Negredo went around the Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero, only for his shot to crash against the upright.
Negredo continued to cause problems for the visitors and in the 14th minute he forced a low save from Caballero, while Jesus Navas' follow-up shot was blocked before the line by Jesus Gamez.
The hosts continued to threaten and in the 25th minute it was Gary Medel who unleashed a powerful strike from a distance, but the goalkeeper was able to watch the ball going wide of the upright.
The last chance of the half fell for fullback Fernando Navarro in the 32nd minute as he pushed forward on the left before drilling a low shot towards the target, but Caballero got down quickly to make the save.
Sevilla were made to pay for their missed opportunities four minutes into the second half when Demichelis nodded home at the far post from a Joaquin Sanchez corner.
Michel Gonzalez' men tried to get back into the game but they were unable to get behind the defence and their next chance would be another long range attempt from Navas in the 68th minute, which went just wide of the post.
However, things got worse for the home side a minute later as they were reduced to ten men when defender Federico Fazio was shown a straight red card for a tug on Sanchez inside the box.
Malaga then doubled their lead from the resulting penalty kick, with Portuguese fullback Eliseu sending Diego Lopez the wrong way.
Despite their attack-minded substitutions, the Sevillistas continued to struggle in the final third and in the 74th minute substitute Cicinho shot wide from outside the box, while a similar effort achieved the same result six minutes later.
The result sees Malaga cementing their place in the top four, while the pressure continues to mount on Sevilla as they are now without a win in their last four league encounters.
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