Real Mallorca 2 - Rayo Vallecano 1
Ahead of the penultimate round of matches for the 2021-2022 LaLiga Santander season, the bottom of the table was as follows:
14: Elche, 39 points; -13 goal difference
15: Getafe, 38; -6
16: Granada, 37; -15
17: Cadiz, 35; -17
18: Mallorca, 33; -30
19: Alavés, 31; -31
20: Levante, 29; -29.
Mallorca's opponents, twelfth-placed Rayo Vallecano, had nothing to play for (no relegation threat, no chance of Europe). Cadiz were at home to champions Real Madrid, Granada away to Real Betis (fifth), and Alavés were away at Levante (who in effect were already relegated). Getafe were at home to Barcelona (second and five points more than Atlético), and Elche were at Celta Vigo.
Coach Javier Aguirre sprang a surprise by picking the same starting eleven who had begun in the draw against Seville; no more chopping and changing, it seemed. But unlike against Seville, there was a goal, and early on. Vedat Muriqi headed in Jaume Costa's centre in the eleventh minute.
If Mallorca had thought that this might be a breeze and that Rayo were on the beach, Iván Balliu proved that he wasn't by shooting just wide on 20 minutes. For the rest of the half, Rayo had rather more of the possession but without doing much with it.
In the second half, Manolo Reina saved Radamel Falcao's 50th minute header, but couldn't do anything about another header nine minutes later - Pathé Ciss had equalised. Dani Rodríguez, on for Costa, shot over on 69 minutes. Stole Dimitrievski saved well to deny Pablo Maffeo with five minutes of normal time left, and then Reina kept out Falcao. It was a frenetic end to the match, and two minutes into added time Abdón Prats scored for Mallorca.
Elsewhere - Levante beat Alavés 3-1 (they are both down); Cadiz drew with Madrid 1-1; Granada lost to Betis 2-0; Getafe drew with Barcelona 0-0; and Elche lost to Vigo 1-0. Mallorca are above Cadiz because of a better head-to-head record.
Mallorca: Reina; Maffeo, Valjent, Raíllo, Oliván; Sánchez (Kubo 63), Sevilla (Lee 84), Battaglia, Costa (D. Rodríguez 63); Á. Rodríguez (Abdón 74), Muriqi
Rayo: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Maras, Marugán, F. Garcia; Valentín (Suárez 88), Ciss (Rodrigues 75); Hernández (Bebé 61), Nteka (Guardiola 61), A. Garcia; Falcao (Sylla 88)
Attendance: 17,930.