Football: Malaga climb to 5th in the league

MADRID: Ambitious Malaga climbed above Sevilla into fifth spot in La Liga when midfielder Isco and forward Seba Fernandez struck in a 3-1 win for the Qatar-owned club at struggling Racing Santander. The 19-year-old Isco pounced to open the scoring in the 48th minute before Alvaro Gonzalez diverted the ball into his own net to make it 2-0 in the 66th. Manuel Arana pulled a goal back for the hosts when he finished off a swift counter-attack four minutes later and Ruud van Nistelrooy crossed for Fernandez to volley home with a minute of regular time remaining.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2011.