Fulham’s pre-season friendly against Malaga ended extraordinarily on Wednesday after the Spanish side took a penalty into an empty net while the London club’s players had already left the pitch.
The bizarre incident occurred at the end of the Costa del Sol Trophy at Malaga’s Estadio La Rosaleda, where the two sides played out a 2-2 draw.
Malaga appeared to have rescued the result in the final minute of normal time after Fulham defender Calvin Bassey was penalised for handball.
Eneko Jauregi stepped up and converted the resulting penalty to make it 2-2.
But what followed created confusion inside the stadium.
Former Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off after appearing to protest with the referee at the final whistle before heading down the tunnel alongside his players.
Fulham believed the match had ended in a draw, with the club later insisting that both teams had agreed before kick-off that there would be no penalty shootout if the game finished level.
Malaga, however, remained on the pitch, expecting a shootout to determine the winner of the trophy.
With the Fulham players and coaching staff already inside the tunnel, Jauregi placed the ball on the penalty spot and calmly converted into an empty goal.
The Malaga players then celebrated in front of their supporters as the unusual scenes unfolded at La Rosaleda.
Fulham Clarify Confusion
Fulham later moved to clarify why their players had left the pitch.
“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,” the Premier League club said on X.
Malaga offered a different version of events in their post-match report, claiming that a penalty shootout had been scheduled.
The Spanish club said Fulham left the pitch because they believed the shootout had not been included in the agreement for the match.
The conflicting accounts left the conclusion of the friendly surrounded by confusion, with Jauregi’s unusual penalty effectively becoming one of the strangest moments of the Premier League club’s pre-season.
Fulham will now turn their attention to their final pre-season fixture against Stuttgart on Saturday.
Marco Silva’s side will then begin their 2026-27 Premier League campaign at home against Chelsea, with the London derby scheduled for Monday, August 24, at 20:00 BST.
For Fulham, the bizarre ending in Malaga will certainly provide plenty of talking points as they complete their preparations for the new season.
