Real Mallorca lost 1-0 away to Madrid side Alcorcon on Friday night. That’s now five times we’ve failed to get a result in five visits (two draws, three defeats) to their tiny, Santo Domingo ground. We should have come away with at least a draw but in my opinion the fact that we had to play two games in the space of four days played a major part in our first defeat of the season, as we ran out of gas towards full time. We missed a couple of sitters and were on the back foot for most of the game. Yes, we lost our unbeaten run but Alcorcon looked a yard faster than us and took an early lead after 14 minutes. The veteran ex-Real Betis and Villarreal striker Jonathan Pereira finished off a cross from the right wing with the Mallorca defence ball watching.
The home team came out of the traps with lightning pace and our defence looked sluggish; they had no idea how to handle Pereira as the Andalusian ran the Alcorcon show. This game started with great intensity, leaving our normally reliable “puppet-master” Salva Sevilla struggling to pull the midfield strings. The “Silver Fox” didn’t have one of his best games and was robbed in possession too many times. Down the flanks Lago and Valcarce were hardly seen which meant that Abdon and Castro upfront struggled to make any kind of leeway.
Halfway through the first period the Alcorcon defence had a panic attack allowing Fran Gamez a great scoring opportunity. The ball was bobbing all over the place, when the right back got his foot to a half chance, only to see his effort come back off the base of the post.
In the second half, Alcorcon again took the game to Mallorca and nearly made it two. Somehow new Slovak centre half signing Martin Valjent cleared off the line, throwing Mallorca a lifeline. Could they get the equaliser? After our best move of the game, in the 63rd minute Monday’s hero Carlos Castro became Friday’s zero when with only the Alcorcon ‘keeper to beat, he blasted over the bar. What a miss!
Mallorca’s eccentric goalkeeper Manolo Reina earned his crust with a couple of top saves, then produced an absolute howler, making a seriously bad clearance which went straight to the solitary Pereira who should have doubled Alcorcon’s lead. Somehow Reina redeemed himself and scrambled the ball clear. He then went down injured in one of his histrionics dives, only to get back up again seconds later, living up to his name as a drama “queen”. Minutes from the end, the coach inexplicably brought on Alex “glass ankles” Lopez in attack. I knew then the game was up for us.
The referee blew for time. It was disappointing for Mallorca fans but the defeat acted as a wake-up call. The loss was a case of “no pasa nada” for the TV-viewing Mallorca fans. In this category even the slightest mistakes are punished.