Real Betis hold off Málaga 2-1 to stay in the European hunt
Marc Bartra's header and a Pablo Fornals strike right on half-time put Real Betis in control, and Adrián Niño's reply was never enough to rescue a Málaga side still without a win all season.
Real Betis did enough, and not much more, to beat a Málaga side that came to the Benito Villamarín still searching for its first win of the season. Marc Bartra's header and a Pablo Fornals goal on the stroke of half-time put the home side in front twice before Adrián Niño's reply ever threatened to make it interesting.
Bartra rose highest to turn in Isco's set-piece delivery at 38 minutes, and Fornals doubled it in the second minute of stoppage time, finishing from inside the box after Betis had kept the ball for most of the closing stages of the half. Niño's goal just after the hour, slotted through a gap Betis never fully closed, set up a nervier finish than the scoreline suggests, but Málaga never had the quality in the final third to find an equaliser.
Match facts
- 38' — Marc Bartra (Real Betis), assist Isco — header
- 45'+2' — Pablo Fornals (Real Betis)
- 68' — Adrián Niño (Málaga)
| Stat | Real Betis | Málaga |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 58.7% | 41.3% |
| Shots on target | 6 | 4 |
| Pass accuracy | 89.1% | 87.4% |
| Corners | 10 | 3 |
| Fouls committed | 10 | 15 |
| Offsides | 3 | 3 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 2 |
Betis keep finding a way
It is Betis's sixth win in their last eight La Liga matches, a run that also includes a draw against Celta Vigo and a heavy defeat at home to Barcelona — the only real blemish. Manuel Pellegrini's side have not lost to anyone outside the division's current top three since the opening weeks of the season, and this is the kind of fixture — at home, against the team sitting bottom — that a side with genuine European ambitions is supposed to win without much fuss.
Málaga's search for a first win goes on
For Málaga, this is now ten league games without a win — no side in La Liga has gone longer without one this season. Five defeats and five draws have left them on 5 points and bottom of the table, and Niño's goal, while it briefly threatened a share of the spoils, did nothing to change the deeper problem: this is a team that has not scored more than once in a match all season.
What's next
Real Betis stay 4th, with this result taking them to 23 points — the win keeps them in touch with the Champions League places as Matchday 11 continues elsewhere. Málaga remain bottom on 5 points, six adrift of safety, and the search for a first league win of the campaign continues into Matchday 12.
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