This was most definitely a game of two halves in a back and forth affair with Real Mallorca, in the second half, introducing their new signings which showed we now have the quality to be a good team.
The first half was a clash of styles with our five-man defensive line holding firm against the hosts who claimed close to 80% possession without forcing Predrag Rajkovic into making a single save.
Coach Aguirre picked the side who finished last season (with the exception of Kang In Lee and Galarreta), leaving his new signings on the bench, apart from Omar Mascarell. Like last season, we were solid at the back with practically nothing to show up front.
In the 29th minute with the game going nowhere, Copete stepped on Sandro in the area in what looked a pretty innocuous challenge. Retired referee Del Cero Grande, now sitting in the VAR room, ruled that a foul had been committed and “rookie” referee Garcia Verdura awarded his first penalty as a La Primera referee. Veteran striker Jonathan Viera made no mistake, 1-0.
Mallorca suddenly woke up and began to look more decisive. In the 40th minute Amath was fouled in the area but the normally reliable Muriqi blasted his penalty kick against the crossbar. Then Amath had the ball in the net but was a nose hair offside.
After the break Aguirre switched things around, bringing on Raillo and Darder and we became a different team, playing much further up the pitch. Darder looks class and with his first touch injected that missing spark of creativity.
After several spurned chances, Mallorca drew level in the 70th minute. A Darder corner found Raillo’s head, 1-1. Shortly after, Aguirre introduced Samu Costa and Cyle Larin and we began to put the home side under pressure. Muriqi had an off night and missed a couple of chances he normally would have put away.
There’s no doubt Sergi Darder is going to be a more than adequate replacement for Kang In Lee, he was spot on with his set pieces.
All in all a fair result in a scrappy game with our performance in the second half looking good. Next Friday it’s Villareal in the Son Moix at 19:30. Sergi Darder must start, us fans can’t wait to see him in action as he changed the face of the game when he came on.