RCD Mallorca’s fate will be decided next Sunday away in Pamplona against Osasuna as “Mr Mallorca,” Arta-born striker Abdon Prats scored the vital goal at the death, securing a third La Liga win in seven games boosting our fight for survival.
I wrote the other week about Real Mallorca and miracles, on Sunday night in front of a vibrant crowd who were put through just about every emotional scenario. The first miracle was Abdon’s goal in the 92nd minute. Like the play-off final against Deportivo La Coruña three years ago, he came off the bench and scored the winner. The second miracle was in the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz where the home team missed a penalty and countless other chances against Real Madrid in a game that finished 1-1.
Now it’s onwards and hopefully upwards to live or let die ! On Sunday RCD Mallorca achieved the most difficult thing, getting out of the relegation zone, but now they have to keep the momentum going against an Osasuna side with nothing to lose.
Mallorca got off to a brilliant start and once again left back Jaume Costa showed he’s the best crosser of the ball in our squad. His 12th-minute “on the money” cross was powerfully headed home at the far post by on-loan Lazio striker Vedat Muriqi, 1-0.
Rayo Vallecano “Los Franjirrojos” came out of the traps all revved up after the break and Mallorca looked to be struggling with a combination of nerves and giving the ball away far too often. Another top save from Manolo Reina from Rayo’s Colombian veteran striker Radamel Falcao was a warning shot across our bows as instead of going for a second the Palma side sat back and soaked up the pressure. On the hour mark sloppy defending saw Rayo’s Pathe Ciss connect with a corner heading his side level 1-1.
The game remained on a knife edge deep into stoppage time when Mallorca found the winner. Abdon Prats fired in to send a nearly full (18,000) Son Moix into delirium; a significant goal and we travel to Osasuna next Sunday night knowing a win will retain our La Liga status.
SUMMING UP : This game had far too many misplaced passes and in the end we just about got over the line. I’ll never understand why, when Mallorca score early, they sit back, relax and let the opposition have a go.
Coach Aguirre waited far too long to make substitutions but the introduction of Take Kubo in the 64th minute was a game changer. The Japanese player is quality and needs to, at least, start a game. Many Mallorca fans are having reservations about Aguirre’s methods and if we had brought on Kubo, Dani Rodriguez and Abdon Prats at half time then we could have been home and hosed much earlier. We needed more troops in attack.
The last quarter of an hour was pure adrenalin for us fans as wave after wave of attacks broke down or were thumped clear into Row Z. The game had looked to be petering out into a draw (no good for us) until Abdon appeared.
I’ve never seen so many tears when an excellent referee, Munuera Montero blew for full time. Now we must win at Osasuna – a difficult task as we’ve only won two on the road all season.
With Alaves and Levante going down, the final relegation spot will not be confirmed until next Sunday. Cadiz head in to the bottom three with Mallorca boasting a better head to head record over the Andalucians. Elche and Granada are also in danger of being sucked into the relegation mix but the key game is Cadiz’s trip to Alaves next Sunday night. Not sure how much us long term Mallorca socios can take of all this melodrama.