Camacho claims Villamarin victory for Malaga

Malaga make a bright start

Javi Gracia's side came out that much sharper than the hosts and created the first chances, forcing Antonio Adan to take centre stage. Malaga stamped their authority on the match in the opening exchanges and could easily have gone ahead early on. 

Adan to the rescue 

The fact that it was still 0-0 at half-time was in large part down to the Betis goalkeeper, who produced two top stops no sooner had the encounter got underway. In the space of seconds, Adan thwarted Malaga twice, first keeping out Raul Albentosa's strike and then denying Duje Cop at the near post. The keeper was called into action again a few minutes later to save from Charles. 

Betis grow into the game

While Malaga began in the ascendancy, Betis came into their own as the minutes passed and started to create danger themselves. Charly Musonda and Dani Ceballos posed the most threat for the hosts in the first half, being behind pretty much every notable attack for their team. However, they were unable to find the net, meaning it was goalless at the break in spite of the chances on offer at both ends. 

Camacho rises highest

With eight minutes to go, Camacho headed the visitors into the lead. Recio curled a free-kick in from the left wing which Adan came for and got nowhere near, allowing the number 6 to glance home into the empty net.

Betis rally in vain

Juan Merino's men did not throw in the towel after finding themselves behind. Far from it, in fact, as they tried every which way to notch an equaliser. However, these efforts did not pay dividends and Malaga went away from the Benito Villamarin with a 1-0 win – the opposite of what had happened in the reverse fixture, when Betis triumphed by the same scoreline at La Rosaleda.