Malaga's Javier Saviola tallied a goal and an assist Saturday morning. (Reuters)
La Liga matchday kicked off in style Saturday as Malaga hosted Levante in front of 22,000 fans on a warm Spanish afternoon. The home side, newly minted in the Champion's League group stage, looked to continue their unbeaten start to the season against a Levante squad that faces Europa league action later on in the month.
The home supporters were anxious to see Malaga's newest arrival, Javier Saviola, who signed for the club as the transfer window drew to a close a couple of weeks back. They weren't disappointed either, as Saviola contributed mightily to a rather dominating victory.
The opening minutes were rather subdued from both sides, as temperatures hovered around 86 degrees at kickoff. However it was clear right away that Malaga were going to have the better of the run of play. In the 8th minute Joaquin woke up the Levante 'keeper, rifling a shot right at him for the day's first chance.
Shouts of discontent from the home players and supporters arose in the 18th minute though, as Malaga were denied a penalty appeal. Levante's Sergio Ballesteros came up behind Saviola in the box and appeared to clip him, sending the attacker to the ground. The referee wasn't buying though, and play continued.
Saviola left little up to the referee in the 27th minute though. Isco found him streaking into the middle of the box and hit him with a wonderful through ball. The Levante defense had a split second chance to cut it out, but the defender couldn't get a foot to it, leaving Saviola with an easy chance, which he promptly slotted to give Malaga the 1-0 lead.
The Malaga crowd was again asking for a penalty on 36 minutes when Sergio Sanchez went to the floor in the Levante area. This time the referee not only denied the appeal, but showed Sanchez the yellow card for diving. That card would come back to haunt him, but Malaga still held the 1-0 lead at halftime.
The lead didn't last long though as Levante managed an equalizer right after the break. In the 46th minute Michel saddled up on the end of a clearance and streaked up the pitch toward the Malaga goal. He hammered his shot from just outside of the area sending the ball into the upper netting to level the match at 1-1.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the rest of the match's chances presented themselves to Malaga. In the 59th minute Saviola took center stage again, hitting Joaquin with another gorgeous through ball that was clinically finished to restore Malaga's lead at 2-1.
Some hope almost emerged for Levante late on as Sergio Sanchez was hit with his second yellow card of the match on 87 minutes. However, they were unable to muster an attack and Malaga iced the match in stoppage time. In the 93rd minute Francisco Portillo got on the end of a cross from Duda and volleyed it home from close range to make the full time score 3-1.
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