Málaga and Levante met at La Rosaleda on the 6th, drawing 0:0 in the 4th round of La Liga. It was a game defined by 1 moment at the start and a wall of defence put up afterwards.
And here's the thing, the match was decided before the 1st corner was kicked. Carlos Ruiz Rubio stepped up for Málaga in the 9th minute and sent his penalty wide. To be fair, the attack never recovered that momentum completely.
Málaga controlled the ball for 63% of the time, passing 578 times compared to Levante's 335. By then, the visitors had settled into a defensive shape, making 25 tackles and winning 18 aerial duels. Levante created 2 big chances of their own, but they could not convert them. The hosts had 1.46 expected goals but ended with none, while Levante's 0.81 xG also came to nothing.
We had backed Levante to win with 80% confidence, but the match went another way. The miss from the spot broke the game open for the hosts early on, forcing Levante to chase the game. When you miss that kind of opportunity, you find yourself playing catch-up instead of setting the tempo.
It leaves Málaga bottom of the table with 0 points, while Levante move up to 10th place with 5.
