Málaga 3 - Valladolid 1

Málaga: Contreras; Martín Rivas, Bravo, Valcarce; Rufete (Musampa 80'), De los Santos, Movilla, Agostinho; Zárate (Rojas 35'); Darío Silva (Edgar 62'), Dely Valdés. 3-4-1-2.
Valladolid: Bizzarri; Torres Gómez, García Calvo, Heinze, Marcos; Ricchetti (Pachón 80'), Turiel; Fernando Sales, Eusebio (Fernando 65'), Antonio López; Kaviedes (Alberto 57'). 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Málaga: Martín Rivas, Zárate for Rojas, Roteta / Valladolid: Ricchetti, Turiel for Jesús, Caminero.

Goals:
1-0. 01. Darío Silva. Won ball straight from kick off, ran through and scored.
2-0. 48. Darío Silva. Controlled cross from left, turned and beat Bizzarri.
3-0. 80. Musampa. Volleyed home after ball came back off crossbar.
3-1. 87. Fernando Sales. Slid ball into net on far post after cross from López.

Darío Silva managed to do more in one hour of this match than most players do in a month. First of all he scored one of the quickest goals on record, at least for a player facing the kick off, finding the net within eight seconds of the referee's whistle after taking the ball off a half asleep Eusebio, running through the stunned defence and shooting past Bizzarri. Then after picking up a yellow card late in the first half he added a second just after the restart with a shot which took a deflection off defender García Calvo into the roof of the net. And a few minutes later he had to leave the field of play after picking up a knee injury. By then the match was won, and Edgar came on in his place as the crowd applauded him off.

The pre-match build up was dominated by questions as to who would and would not play for either side. Málaga gave late fitness tests to five players including Darío Silva, and although he passed together with Movilla and Bravo, Roteta and Larrainzar were not considered to be in condition to play. As a result, Joaquín Peiró opted for a three man defence with Rivas coming in for a rare start, and Zárate playing behind the front two in a 3-4-1-2 line up. Valladolid's manager Pancho Ferraro had even more problems, and with Caminero finally staying at home, he was forced to play an unedited midfield, with Ricchetti and Turiel coming in to the anchor positions and Eusebio moving forward.

After the initial goal Valladolid came back, creating danger down the wings, with Antonio López hitting the crossbar with a header and Contreras saving from Sales. Peiró decided to switch to a four man defence to cut out the wide men, and despite the anger of the crowd, took off the popular Zárate to bring on Rojas at right back ten minutes before half time. It was a wise move, and Valladolid hardly had an effort at goal after the substitution. Musampa came on near the end and almost immediately added a third, but a couple of minutes later Rivas left his side with three defenders again after referee Iturralde González sent him off for a second bookable offence, giving away a penalty into the bargain. Although Contreras saved Alberto's spot kick, Valladolid did finally get themselves on the scoresheet, Fernando Sales sliding the ball home in the last minute. The result takes Málaga back above their rivals into tenth place, heading a group of five teams on 18 points, with Valladolid now down at fifteenth.