Penalty shoot-out leaves Málaga without the reward they deserved

Málaga CF shone and put on a great footballing display in their second match of the LFP World Challenge Tour against Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, but the Argentinian side ended up taking the win via the penalty shoot-out (4-3). Javi Gracia’s side were the better team and created numerous chances during the whole game, hitting the post twice, but were unable to leave Buenos Aires with the win.

Under heavy rain, the magical Estadio Pedro Bidegain witnessed a thrilling first half in which the Andalusians proved their quality on various occasions. Nordin Amrabat dragged the team on, showing himself to be very incisive throughout the first half.

A move in which the Moroccan ran down the left wing and connected with Ricardo Horta came very close to giving the first goal of the game, but the shot from the Portuguese was blocked by goalkeeper José Devecchi. On the stroke of half-time, Amrabat flirted with the goal again with a shot which brushed the bar after another great individual move from the ‘blanquiazul’ player.

Málaga continued with the same intensity after the break and it wasn’t long before they had their opponents worried again, with a shot from Fábio Espinho that crashed into the woodwork. The home side’s keeper was once again crucial, stopping another effort from Horta, whilst Charles Dias also found the frame of the goal near the end of the game.

In the end, with the 90 minutes up and the score still at 0-0, the Argentinian team won the penalty shoot-out and left Málaga without the reward they deserved.