Real Mallorca, lacking desire and bereft of ideas, lost their four-game-unbeaten run as fellow relegation candidates Girona claimed a 1-2 victory in front of 16,011 freezing brass monkeys on Sunday night.
Girona were by far the best side in the first half but Mallorca nearly took the lead in the first minute (before many fans had sat down), when a dangerous cross from Jan Virgili, one of our few successes on Sunday night, nearly found Muriqi who was inches away from connecting. That incident, early doors, was the highlight for us in a poor first half from the Palma side, who were soft in defence and lacked bite upfront.
Having won the possession count, the visitors looked more threatening and took a deserved lead in the 25th minute. A shot by the Ukrainian striker Viktor Tsygankov beat Leo Roman in the Mallorca goal, who really should have done better. After that went in, Mallorca looked a deflated side as team captain Raillo, in despair, threw down his protective mask in a gesture of helplessness at the lacklustre performance from his fellow defenders.
Into the second half and Mallorca thought they’d drawn level, when Takuma Asano was through in a 1-on-1 with the Girona goalkeeper. The Japanese winger saw his shot whistle past Gazzaniga and into the far corner of the net – however, a VAR check saw the goal ruled out for being marginally offside. Then minutes later Girona’s Witsel saw his effort saved by Roman and the rebound hit the crossbar and crashed down on the goal line before being scrambled away.
This was just a stay of execution for Mallorca as Girona doubled their lead in the 63rd minute. Another Ukrainian, Vanat, was brought down by keeper Roman and the Girona player picked himself up and made no mistake from the spot. After that went in, whistles of derision could be heard around a shivering Son Moix.
With time running out, and Mallorca bringing on four substitutes, Muriqi’s belly flop in the penalty area saw him winning a penalty which he converted to give him his tenth goal of the season. The final throw of the dice saw Mallorca win a corner in the fourth minute of added-on time. Goalkeeper Roman came up for the final corner and he ended up in a collision of heads with Muriqi who left the pitch with his head swathed in bandages.
SUMMING UP: This was a disappointing setback for Mallorca and fingers are being pointed in the direction of coach Jagoba Arrasate, as fans wearing gloves, hats and coats exited the Son Moix. Once again Mallorca had let slip a golden opportunity to create some distance from the relegation bottom three. With only one more game left until the halfway point in the season, either the team wake up and the sporting director strengthens the squad or our survival is seriously at risk.
Girona found penetrating the Mallorca rear guard was too easy time and time again. We relied too much on the silky skills of teenage sensation Jan Virgili. At times towards the end he tried to dribble past five Girona defenders, to no avail. Girona’s win saw them climb out of the drop zone to 17th. Mallorca are one place higher, having dropped down a spot to 16th. Both teams now have 18 points.