Málaga finish their Australian tour with a draw

Málaga CF have finished their LFP World Challenge Tour of Australia with a 1-1 draw against Perth Glory FC in nib Stadium in front of almost 10,000 fans in the Western Australia capital.

Javi Gracia’s men, who convincingly saw off United FC on Friday in the first of their encounters on the Tour, were unable to wrap things up Down Under with another win.

After a morning stroll around their hotel, Málaga had lunch and set off for nib Stadium. The home side started off the stronger and dominated the beginning of the match, but it was Málaga who took the lead on the half-hour mark. Ricardo Horta, one of the club’s summer signings, put the Spaniards ahead with a great strike from outside the box. The score read 0-1 heading into the halftime break.

In the second half, and after Gracia had made a few changes, Andy Keogh grabbed an equaliser by beating Agustín Cousillas. As such, Gracia’s men were unable to wrap their Australian tour up with another win.

After the fulltime whistle, representatives from both teams exchanged gifts and jerseys in the stadium’s VIP room during a ceremony that was attended by Fernando Sanz, the LFP General Director in the Middle East and North Africa. As well as that, the players signed autographs for the local fans and some Spanish citizens living in Australia. After that, they made their way back to their hotel to have dinner and rest ahead of their long flight back to the Spanish capital, where they will arrive on Monday.