Real Mallorca have had the best week of the season when they hung on to beat second top Girona 1-0 in a chilly windswept Son Moix on Sunday night. With the semifinal cup win euphoria still on the fans’ minds, the atmosphere in the Son Moix was electric. We forced seven corners in the first half hour and drew first blood in the 33rd minute.
The omnipresent Dani Rodriguez (what an engine he’s got for a 35-year-old) swung over another curling corner. Omar Mascarell’s shot was parried by Girona’s ’keeper Gazzaniga and fell into the path of Copete who lashed in what proved to be the winner off the underside of the bar. The goal stood after a VAR check for handball was dismissed.
If there were any lingering thoughts that our Herculean efforts on Tuesday night in San Sebastian might take its toll on the Mallorca players as they came under pressure in the second half, they were quickly dispelled with a magnificent rear guard action by the home defence. Adding at least one point after the bruising battle on Tuesday night would have been positive enough, but to get all three from a side who’ve scored 57 goals and only lost two on the road was verging on the spectacular.
After an hour Mallorca began to look leggy and in the 65th minute coach Javier Aguirre brought on the Arta connection with Dani Rodriguez and Larin being replaced by Abdon Prats and Sergi Darder, who looked a different player on Sunday after his winning spot kick on Tuesday night.
As the minutes ticked away, the team rallied in the closing stages to win against the odds. For Girona, their slim chance of catching Real Madrid at the top diminished despite their dominance in the second half.
Mallorca are now up to 15th position, clear of the bottom three, and reach their historic fourth Cup final out of relegation danger, with only nine points to play for before then.
Next up it’s an injury-hit, misfiring Barcelona at the Olympic stadium on Friday night at 9pm.