Malaga player takes penalty into empty net and celebrates with fans as bad-tempered Fulham friendly ends in farce

FULHAM’s pre-season friendly against Malaga ended in farce as the Spanish side took penalties into an empty net. Alvaro Arbeloa‘s side took on the LaLiga side at their Rosaleda stadium for the Costa del Sol Trophy. Eneko Jauregui scored a penalty without a goalkeeper against Fulham Credit: X Fulham players were at the halfway line when the penalty was taken Credit: X The pre-season went smoothly enough for almost 90 minutes. That was until Malaga were awarded a contentious penalty at the death, which Eneko Jauregi converted for a 2-2 draw. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Arbeloa was livid about the decision, remarkably being SENT OFF in the meaningless clash. Then, confusion reigned. It has become very common for friendly matches to end with a penalty shootout, but it appeared Fulham did not get the memo. As Malaga stars prepared for the spot-kicks, Arbeloa was instead arguing with officials before telling his players to shake hands and head off the pitch. That led to a chorus of boos from the 17,000 fans inside the stadium. So Jauregi, 30, took the match ball and headed to spot, followed by a number of his team-mates. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS Jauregi still celebrated the goal Credit: Getty The forward eased the ball into the open goal before running away in celebration in front of 17,000 fans. He was mobbed by his team-mates in the penalty area as they celebrated the goal. Fulham later insisted there had been NO agreement for a shootout. A post on X read: “Thank you for your excellent support in Malaga this evening! “We can confirm that prior to the match, both teams agreed that there would not be a penalty shootout in the event of a draw.” It is understood Fulham were adamant they needed to head straight to the airport and risked mixing their flight back to London if they took part in the penalties. Malaga won the Costa del Sol trophy Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off for protesting a referee decision Credit: Getty Ryan Sessegnon had given Fulham the lead with his head before Malaga’s David Larrubia squeezed an effort under Bernd Leno. Rodrigo Muniz thought he had won the game only for Jauregi’s penalty to level it. Fulham have one more pre-season game before their Premier League season gets underway, The Cottagers face Stuttgart at home on Saturday before starting their season with a local derby against Chelsea on August 24. The club have made some additions during the summer transfer window having splashed £74million. Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios have arrived from Real Madrid, while Shea Charles and Jonah Kusi-Asare have been signed from Southampton and Bayern Munich. Comment now