Racing Santander Beat Malaga 2-1 With Second Half Comeback at La Rosaleda

Racing Santander beat Malaga 2-1 at Estadio La Rosaleda on Saturday 7 November 2026, in LaLiga Matchday 12, after trailing at half time in a match that changed completely in the second half. Carlos Dotor gave Malaga the lead in the 28th minute, Iker Luque equalised in the 50th minute, and Yassir Zabiri completed the comeback at La Rosaleda with the winning goal in the 60th minute. The result gave Racing the first away win of the season and left Malaga still without a win after 12 league matches.

The scoreline told only part of the story. Malaga started with confidence, protected a narrow lead for the rest of the first half, and then lost control after the interval as Racing raised the tempo, used the width of the pitch, and pressed higher up the field. Racing scored twice in ten minutes, survived late pressure with ten men behind the ball from Malaga, and held on through a tense finish in front of a home crowd that grew louder as the minutes passed.

Racing Santander beat Malaga 2-1 after a strong Malaga start

Malaga set up in a 5-3-2 shape under coach Juan Funes, with three central defenders, two wing backs, and two forwards. Alex Pastor made a debut in the top flight alongside Einar Galilea and Fernando Calero in defence. Racing, coached by Jose Alberto Lopez, started in a 4-2-3-1 shape and tried to control possession from the start, while Malaga stayed compact and looked for chances on the counter attack.

The match began with a tribute to Jesus de Miguel, with commemorative shirts and a minute of silence before kick off, and play stopped again in the ninth minute so that the whole stadium could applaud the former striker while a video of his goals played on the screens. The early football matched the emotion in the stands. Racing had more of the ball, Malaga defended in numbers, and the first clear chance went to the home side.

Rafita suffered a hamstring injury in a run on his own and had to leave the pitch in the 23rd minute, with David Larrubia taking his place as a wing back. The change did not slow Malaga. Five minutes later, Adrian Nino delivered a pass into the area, Dotor arrived late from midfield, and the midfielder finished low past Julen Agirrezabala to make the score 1-0. It was the second goal of the season for Dotor, and it gave Malaga a lead to defend until the break.

Malaga had more chances to extend the lead before half time. Nino could not finish a move in the 33rd minute after good build up play, and Dotor went close again after a strong run. Racing looked flat after the goal, possession moves broke down in the final third, and the visitors reached half time behind. The half time score was Malaga 1, Racing Santander 0, and the home side had reason to feel that the plan was working.

How Luque and Zabiri turned the match in ten minutes

Jose Alberto Lopez changed the attack at half time by introducing Pablo Garcia, and the change had an immediate effect. Racing moved the ball faster, found space behind the Malaga wing backs, and put the home defence under sustained pressure. In the 50th minute, Pablo Ramon delivered a pass into the area, Luque found space after a poor jump from Einar Galilea, and the winger finished low past Alfonso Herrero to level the score at 1-1.

Luque joined Racing in September from Atletico Madrid, with a buy back option in the move, and the goal showed why the club moved for him. He attacked the space with pace, stayed calm in front of goal, and gave Racing the lift that had been missing in the first half. From that moment, the momentum stayed with the visitors, and Malaga struggled to regain the control that had carried the team through the opening 45 minutes.

The winning goal arrived in the 60th minute. A poor pass from Calero gave Racing the ball in a dangerous area, Pablo Garcia drove forward and shot at goal, and Herrero made a strong save. The ball fell loose in the area, Zabiri reacted first, and the Moroccan international striker pushed the rebound into the net for 2-1. Zabiri had already seen a goal ruled out for offside after a pass from Luque, so the second finish carried extra value for the forward and for the team.

Zabiri started the match, played the full 90 minutes, and scored before joining the Morocco national team for the international break. The goal was a reward for a hard working display in attack, and it put Racing ahead for the first time in the match. Malaga, by contrast, had conceded twice in ten minutes and now needed a response from a side that had not won a league match all season.

Aznou dismissal and late pressure at La Rosaleda

The match turned again in the 64th minute, when Adam Aznou received a second yellow card and was sent off. Aznou had been booked in the 38th minute, and referee Isidro Diaz de Mera Escuderos showed the second card after a stamp on Pablo Ramon. Malaga had to play the final 26 minutes with ten men, and the task of finding an equaliser became much harder.

Malaga still created chances. Nino set up Dotor for a clear chance in front of goal, but Agirrezabala made himself big and saved the shot. The Racing goalkeeper made more key saves in the closing stages and protected the lead with calm handling and strong positioning. Joaquin and Chupe also had chances for Malaga, but neither could find the target, and the home side ran out of time.

Funes made changes to chase the game, with Dotor and Dani Lorenzo leaving the pitch for Joaquin and Pablo Martinez in the 84th minute, and with other substitutions earlier in the second half. Racing made changes of its own to protect the lead, with fresh legs in midfield and attack. The final minutes were tense, but Racing defended the area well, kept the shape compact, and saw out a win that had looked unlikely at half time.

Match statistics show a deserved Racing win

Statistic	Malaga	Racing Santander
Goals	1	2
Shots	16	21
Shots on target	8	7
Corners	6	3
Possession	46 percent	54 percent
Expected goals	1.99	2.44

The statistics backed up the result. Racing had more shots, more possession, and a higher expected goals total, with 2.44 against 1.99 for Malaga. Malaga had more shots on target and more corners, which showed that the home side did create danger, but Racing created the clearer chances after the break and took them. The expected goals gap of 0.45 matched the flow of the second half, when Racing controlled long spells and forced Herrero into saves.

Starting lineups and substitutions

Racing started with Agirrezabala in goal, Pablo Ramon, Pedro Felipe, Javi Belocian, and Jorge Salinas in defence, Ivan Martin and Matteo Prati in central midfield, Iker Luque, Sergio Canales, and Inigo Vicente in the attacking midfield line, and Yassir Zabiri as the striker. Pablo Garcia came on at half time and changed the game, while later changes brought on Inigo, Aldasoro, Lago Junior, Aaron, and Andres to protect the lead.

Malaga started with Alfonso Herrero in goal, Rafita, Fernando Calero, Alex Pastor, Einar Galilea, and Adam Aznou in defence, Carlos Dotor, Ramon Enriquez, and Dani Lorenzo in midfield, and Chupe and Adrian Nino in attack. Larrubia replaced the injured Rafita in the 23rd minute, Guzman replaced Chupe in the 58th minute, Salinas replaced Einar Galilea in the 71st minute, Inigo replaced Dani Lorenzo in the 77th minute, and Joaquin and Pablo Martinez replaced Dotor and Ramon Enriquez in the 84th minute.

What the result means for the LaLiga table

Team	Position	Points	Played	Wins	Draws	Defeats
Racing Santander	9th	14	12	4	2	6
Malaga	20th	5	12	0	5	7

Racing climbed from 16th to 9th in the table after the win, with 14 points from 12 games, from four wins, two draws, and six defeats. The jump of seven places showed how tight the middle of the table remains, and it gave Racing a much stronger position before the international break. At the top of the table, the title race after Matchday 11 had Barcelona two points clear of Atletico Madrid. Malaga stayed in 20th place, at the bottom of the table, with five points from 12 games, from no wins, five draws, and seven defeats.

Malaga remains the only side in the division without a win after 12 matchdays. The record of five draws and seven defeats explains the pressure on the club, the coach, and the players, and it explains why the home crowd reacted with frustration at the final whistle. Malaga had already lost 2-1 to Real Betis on 31 October, and a late equaliser had denied the team a win in a 1-1 draw with Alaves. Racing, by contrast, now has a platform to build on, and the win gives the squad confidence after a run of poor results away from home.

First away win ends a long wait for Racing

The win was the first away win of the season for Racing. The club arrived at La Rosaleda with no points from five away trips, and the run of five straight away defeats had become a serious problem. Racing won without injured defender Alvaro Mantilla, who will miss the rest of the season with a ligament tear. The comeback ended that run in one evening, and it did so in a stadium where Malaga had looked strong for long spells of the first half.

The head to head record also favoured Racing before kick off. In the last seven meetings between the clubs, Malaga had no wins, Racing had four wins, and three matches had ended in draws. The result on Saturday extended that run and confirmed that Racing has found a way to win this fixture, even when the match starts badly.

Saturday also produced two goalless draws in LaLiga, with Espanyol drawing 0-0 with Deportivo and Osasuna drawing 0-0 with Athletic Club. That made the Malaga and Racing match the only completed Saturday result with goals, and it gave the comeback extra value as a story of the day. Matchday 12 continues with Valencia hosting Real Madrid at Mestalla, and the title race takes centre stage on Sunday when Atletico Madrid meet Barcelona. The international break now gives both clubs time to regroup, with Racing in a much better mood and Malaga still searching for a first win of the season.

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