Cop double extinguishes Levante hopes

Dangerous left flank

Malaga CF came into this game lying comfortably in mid-table, but right from the off it was clear that the hosts were out to give their fans something to shout about. The Andalusians made a lively start and gave plenty for Levante UD to think about down the left flank, where Federico Ricca and Chory Castro were enjoying plenty of joy. Indeed, the game's first clear-cut opening came from a delivery whipped in from the left, which saw Diego Mariño produce a smart save to deny a Duje Cop header. Rather inevitably, when the opening goal did come, it was laid on by Malaga left back, Federico Ricca, the Uruguayan's inviting cross was met by Cop, who beat his man to stab home and put Malaga into the lead.

Nerves aplenty

Right from the first whistle, the nerves within the Levante team were strikingly evident, as the visitors gave the ball away time and time again. However, the Granotas grew into the game and began to make some inroads into the hosts' area. Italian forward, Giuseppe Rossi, came mighty close to levelling things on two occasions, but Guillermo Ochoa pulled off two spectacular saves to keep his side in front.

Morales refuses to give in

Despite having it all to do, Levante didn't crumble and their never-say-die attitude was personified by one of their top performers this season, winger Jose Luis Morales. Morales's runs in behind started to cause problems for the Malaga backline and a long ball over the top saw the Levante man get the better of Raul Albentosa to find himself clean through on Ochoa and he duly fired past the Malaga custodian to restore parity and give his side hope.

Desperate Levante go all out

After their equaliser, Rubi's charges poured forward in search of the winner which would have kept their Liga BBVA survival chances alive going into the final straight. The Granotas began to offer more of a threat as they pushed Malaga further back into their own half. However, this desire to push forward left gaps at the back, which Malaga capitalised on to fashion several chances. The most gilt-edged of these fell the way of Charles, but he contrived to fire wide with the goal at his mercy.

Sucker punch

It looked increasingly likely that the game was destined to end all square, a result which would have still given Levante a chance to claw themselves out of danger in the remaining games, but with just a minute to go came the killer blow. Mariño palmed a Charles header onto the post and it bounced out to Cop, who fired home to seal victory and send Levante down to the Liga Adelante. With the game and the season now over for the Valencians, Castro rubbed salt into the wound by firing home a thunderous effort from the edge of the box to make it 3-1.