Real Mallorca 1 - Valencia 1
Real Mallorca and Valencia remain entrenched in the La Liga relegation battle after the pair played out a 1-1 draw, a result which ended Mallorca’s three-match-winning run in Son Moix in front of a 20,103 crowd – a great turnout for a Tuesday night game.
Mallorca were quicker out of the blocks and were the stronger side in the early stages. They created numerous chances and took the lead from a Samu Costa header just after half time. A well-delivered Darder cross and a strong leap by Costa saw the Portuguese international power home a header to give him his sixth goal of this campaign. The stadium erupted when that went in and it felt like everything was going to plan. We had the momentum on Valencia as they looked rattled and we had real chances to kill off the game.
Towards the end both sides looked nervous, caught between going for a win and fearing defeat. With Muriqi not able to shake off his markers, we lacked a cutting edge. Substitute Virgili came on in the second half but should have been on much earlier. He came the closest to scoring but for an extraordinary save from Dimitrievski in the Valencia goal. With time virtually running out, Valencia’s Danjuma miraculously missed connecting with a defence-splitting pass. The sigh of relief from an emptying Son Moix was palpable.
This draw feels like a defeat, especially after we created so many chances in a match where we carried the main attacking threat. One of the facts in football is that you normally pay the price for missed opportunities and that fact came true in the 66th minute. The 6ft 7in Nigerian striker Sadiq timed his run perfectly to nod home, breaking Mallorca hearts. Vedat Muriqi had an off night and was heavily marked by the Valencia defence. They barely threatened as Mallorca pushed and probed trying to make something happen, with two teams that were clearly aware what was at stake.
Despite the draw, the record under Demichelis is excellent, seven points out of a possible nine. That, for now, whatever happened on Tuesday night and Wednesday night, we will still be out of the relegation bottom three. Mallorca now have but four days to regroup for the visit to another relegation candidate Alaves in Vitoria (the capital of the Basque country) on Saturday afternoon at 2pm. This game looks to be another one of these pressure encounters for Real Mallorca and is a must-win six-pointer.