Las Palmas 2 - Málaga 1

Las Palmas: Nacho González; Baiano (Edu Alonso 75'), Schurrer, Jaime Molina, Paqui, Angel; Pablo Lago, Samways, Jorge (Toddi 70'); Guayre (Orlando 75'), Oulare. 5-3-2.
Málaga: Contreras; Ruano, Bravo, Larrainzar, Valcarce; Rufete, Movilla, De los Santos, Agostinho (Sandro 83'); Zárate (Basti 65'), Dely Valdés. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Las Palmas: Nacho González, Baiano, Samways, Angel, Guayre for Cicovic, Ramón, Josico, Jarni, Eloy / Málaga: Ruano, Zárate for Martín Rivas, Canabal.

Goals:
0-1. 60. Valcarce. Solo goal, beat two defenders before scoring.
1-1. 77. Oulare. Shot from over 30 metres into top corner of net.
2-1. 82. Orlando. At second attempt after his pass was blocked by defender.

Las Palmas came back from a goal down to record their first victory of the season (and their first in the first division in 12 years), giving their manager Sergio Kresic a bit of breathing space after receiving severe criticisms following their earlier bad results. Kresic had used the two week break for international games to rethink his strategy and work with his squad, and he changed his formation to include three men in the centre of his defence in an attempt to stem the tide of goals they have conceded in recent matches.He also changed his goalkeeper, bringing in Argentina's Nacho González in place of Cicovic, and with Jarni and Eloy injured he drafted in two youngsters, Angel and Guayre. Vinny Samways also returned after his one week suspension without pay for fighting with Turkish striker Oktay, who is now expected to leave the club soon. Before the match Kresic decided to concentrate his team in a hotel, and by chance they shared with their visitors Málaga, and also with England's 1966 World Cup winning squad, who were visiting the Canary Islands at the time.

Málaga have also had a string of bad results, although their manager Joaquín Peiró is still in favour with his club president Fernando Puche. His team is gradually losing forwards, with Canabal the latest casualty with a knee injury due to follow Darío Silva to the operating table. One consolation is that Portuguese forward Edgar is well on the way to recovery, although he was not fit enough to play in this match, and Peiró finally opted for Zárate to join Dely Valdés in attack rather than Basti. He also lost his right back Rojas to a twisted ankle the day before the game, and Ruano came in to his position.

Málaga were the better side in the first few minutes, with Agostinho and Rufete on the two wings laying on chances for Movilla and De los Santos respectively early on, and Rufete himself shooting wide in a clear scoring position. After that the visitors attacks dried up and Las Palmas took over, with Samways testing Contreras twice in a minute with long shots. Angel and Jorge showed their inexperience, taking too long to shoot in front of goal, and Baiano struck the crossbar with a free kick just before the interval. Then against the run of play Málaga took the lead, full back Valcarce taking the ball round Schurrer and Molina before beating González on the hour mark.

Kresic went for older heads, bringing on Toddi, Orlando and then Edu Alonso (just back from injury), and that did the trick. Nigerian striker Oulare, who had forced a great save out of Contreras earlier on, left the keeper with no chance this time with a 35 metre strike that entered the net in the top corner, his first goal since coming to Spain. Referee Esquinas Torras sent off the Málaga physiotherapist, Juan Carlos Souvirón for continuing to protest after receiving a yellow card, and then Orlando scored the winner a little fortunately with eight minutes to go, the ball landing back at his feet after his pass was blocked by the defence. The victory takes Las Palmas out of the relegation zone for now, and they move ahead of their rivals to fourteenth. Málaga drop to seventeenth, and desperately need a result next week against Villarreal to stop the rot. Today's defeat could be vital for goal average at the end of the season if both teams stay in the lower reaches of the table.