Fulham respond after fiery friendly ends with walk-off as Malaga score penalty in empty net

Fulham’s pre-season friendly with Malaga descended into chaos on Wednesday night, ending with Alvaro Arbeloa’s men walking off the pitch as the Spanish side took a penalty into an open net. Malaga snatched a last-gasp equaliser against the Cottagers at the Estadio La Rosadela, with Eneko Jauregi converting from the spot in stoppage time to make it 2-2 after Calvin Bassey was penalised for a handball. Cancelling put Alex Iwobi’s 57th-minute effort, it was the second time Fulham had surrendered a lead in the friendly, with Ryan Sessegnon trading a goal with Malaga’s Chupe in the first half. However, the game did not end in friendly fashion, with new Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa seeing red for remonstrating with the referee at full-time. Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off after the friendly (Getty) He then headed straight down the tunnel with the rest of his players, believing the match was over, while LaLiga outfit Malaga were expecting a penalty shootout to decide the winner of the Costa del Sol Trophy. Malaga’s players remained on the pitch but Fulham did not reappear. Spanish striker Eneko Jauregi appeased the crowd’s desire for penalties by placing the ball on the spot and converting into an open net, before celebrating with the home fans. Eneko Jauregi fired into an empty net after Fulham walked off (Getty) Fulham has since asserted that both sides agreed the match would end without a penalty shootout if a draw was played out. "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 club wrote on X. However, Malaga contest this and insisted that a shootout had indeed been scheduled. "Although a penalty shootout had been scheduled, Fulham left the pitch, claiming that a shootout had not been included in the contract,” Malaga said on their club website. Fulham, who have won just one of their five pre-season outings this summer, end their 2026/27 preparations against Stuttgart on Saturday at Craven Cottage. They begin their Premier League campaign against Chelsea on Monday 24 August.