Málaga battle back

KS Amica Wronki took an early lead but a spirited display ended in defeat as Málaga CF fought back to establish a slender advantage from the home leg of their UEFA Cup second-round tie.

Flying high in Spain
The Polish visitors were not expected to trouble their Spanish opponents, who currently sit above the likes of FC Barcelona and RC Deportivo La Coruna in the Primera División and are level on points with Real Madrid CF, the European champions.

Fierce drive
However, Miroslaw Jablonski's side showed they were not at La Rosaleda merely to make up the numbers when Grzegorz Król opened the scoring in the second minute with a fierce drive from 25 metres. The strike caught Málaga goalkeeper Pedro Contreras unawares but he played out the remaining 88 minutes of the match without further incident.

Sparked into life
The goal sparked Málaga into life and they immediately went in search of the equaliser, peppering the Amica goal with strikes from various ranges. When the leveller finally arrived in the 39th minute it had an air of fortune about it, Dário Silva's cross being deflected into the path of Marcelo Romero who guided the ball beyond the wrong-footed Grzegorz Szamotulski.

Dely Valdes winner
Although Amica played well in the second half, they created little in the way of clear scoring chances and Málaga took the lead in the 69th minute when Julio Dely Valdes received the ball in the area from Kizito Musampa and was allowed enough time to turn and get a low shot away which crept in at the far post.

Denied a third
Dely Valdes should have made it three 16 minutes from time when, after confusion in the Amica box, the ball fell in front of him and he instinctively prodded it past Szamotulski. However, a last-ditch clearance on the line by Dariusz Geisor kept the ball out.