Match report: Jeff Ali Images: Nathan Peplow Paul Lambert was given his toughest pre-season test when his Villa side took on a Malaga team already full of confidence after some inspiring pre-season results themselves, including a 3-3 draw away to Galatasary, but the Villains emerged the victors after Christian Benteke fired another double to beat last year's 6th place finishers in La Liga. A headed goal from defender Ron Vlaar rounded out the scoring for Villa between Benteke's double, and an own goal from new boy Jores Okore, and an impressive strike from Darder made it two for the Spanish visitors. Villa's line up probably reflected, or would be very close to the side that will start against Arsenal next week, and that victory against a side who progressed well in the Champions League last year can be cause for confidence. Antonio Luna looked very lively for Villa and played a series of one two's with former Leeds man Fabian Delph to create Villa's first attack, before it was broken down by the Malaga defence catching El Ahmadi on the ball, with the visitors almost profiting with a quick counter that saw Pawloski fire just over the bar from 30 yards out. Agbonlahor's speed and trickery caused huge concerns for Malaga's defence and he was brought down just outside the box by Angeleri. From the free-kick, Malaga cleared for a throw in and it was from that set-piece that Christian Benteke picked the ball up on 12 minutes, and cut in from the left hand side of the penalty area, brushing aside one Malaga defender before side footing the ball past the keeper.
Villa looked good for their lead, and frustrated Malaga for long periods, including further impressive work from Antonio Luna, and a good opportunity for Andreas Weiman. The former linked up well with Benteke to force a corner that was converted by the head of Vlaar for Villa's second goal, the defender rising well above everyone to head into the net. The good work continued throughout the first half, with Weimann and Matt Lowton showing good interplay and the new-look defence looking like they'd played together for years. Malaga did have a penalty shout, but the officials ruled Vlaar's last ditch tackle as fine, and the ball went out for a corner - that was about as close Brad Guzan got to a test in the first half. Villa had their own penalty shout before the end of the period: Benteke going down after a strong run, and the Martin Atkinson duly pointing to the spot for the Belgian to stand up and score the penalty himself, sending the 'keeper the wrong way. The half ended with more Villa pressure, followed by a sucker punch from Malaga that lead to Okore sliding the ball into his own net. Paul Lambert chose not to make any changes at half-time, and the Malaga team personnel also remained unchanged, though Pawloski switched to the left side. And that change seemed to inspire a revolution for Malaga, who looked an entirely different team, forcing pressure onto Villa and breaking up attacks successfully. That pressure paid off in the 62nd minute, with Darder picking the ball up, and shooting from the left hand side of the area, sending a screamer into the top left hand corner of brad Guzan's goal. Villa felt the jolt, and woke up with the score at 3-2, but after a series of substitutions, the score remained the same for the rest of the half, despite a close effort by Pawloski, who looked the most lively player in the second half. All in all, the game was a testing workout for both teams in front of an impressive 22000 plus crowd, and while the real test starts next week for Villa, judging by this performance, there are a lot of positives to take away.
