Real Oviedo travelled to Andalucia today for the Matchday 26 LaLiga SmartBank fixture against Málaga at La Rosaleda. Álvaro Cervera opted for a starting eleven made up of: Braat, Lucas, Rodri Tarín, Dani Calvo, Abel Bretones, Viti, Luismi, Jimmy, Koba, Manu Vallejo and Bastón.
The Asturians began the match well-positioned out on the pitch and with the intention of imposing their style of play on the encounter. As the minutes ticked by, Los Carbayones started to create some of the clearest opportunities, while Málaga barely threatened Quentin Braat's goal. Viti Rozada went close to opening the scoring in the 24th minute with a powerful right-footed strike from range, but the home keeper got a finger to the effort to tip it over the crossbar.
Just before halftime, Borja Bastón would have the clearest chance of the first half. The striker received a fine pass from Vallejo, and then twisted and turned excellently to beat the defender and get his shot away. Despite the good attempt, the Málaga keeper was able to deny him and the score remained 0-0. The bad news of the half was the injury suffered by Bastón, who had to be replaced by Sergi Enrich.
The match continued in a similar fashion after the break, and Álvaro Cervera's side continued trying to break the deadlock. Abel Bretones forced Yañez into another save after some fine play on the left wing, but it would be new signing Manu Vallejo who opened the scoring in the 58th minute. Enrich backheeled the ball through to Lucas on the right wing, and the full back's great cross was headed home by the new attacker. The goal was fully-deserved based on what had been seen over the course of the encounter. The goal was accompanied by a red card for centre back Esteban Burgos, who received his marching orders for his protests, but Cervera's team continued with the same game plan. Luismi went close to adding a second in the 78th minute, but his header went just over the bar.
Raúl Moro also had a chance to double the lead in the final stages, but his effort went just wide. Nevertheless, Real Oviedo were able to hold onto their lead and pick up an important victory at La Rosaleda. The victory sees Los Carbayones add another three points to the tally following a great performance, and they now sit eleventh in the table with 34 points, albeit having played one more game than the majority of the teams in the division.
The team will be back in training at 10:30 on Monday at El Requexón as preparations begin for the next league fixture.
