Deportivo Alavés 2 - Real Mallorca 1
Real Mallorca once again look to be relegation fodder as they dropped three painful points away in a 2-1 defeat to fellow strugglers Alaves on Saturday afternoon. The Basque side got off to the worst possible start when their top striker Lucas Boyé pulled up after two minutes holding his left leg, which turned out to be a hamstring injury. He took no further part in proceedings.
Then it was “wow” time. In Mallorca’s first meaningful attack, they took the lead in the 18th minute with a truly spectacular goal. Jan Virgili unleashed a stunning angled volley from outside the penalty area into the far corner of the net. It was a goal he’d scored many times for Barcelona B and the Under 20 national side, but the first he had scored from distance for Real Mallorca.
Despite having more possession, Alaves saw most of their efforts shut down at source, but they came mighty close just before half time. An overhead bicycle kick from Tenaglia brought out a brilliant save from Leo Roman.
Into the second half and the game changed dramatically. Mallorca seemed to take a step backwards which invited Alaves back into the game. They scored the equaliser in the 55th minute when, from their eighth corner, Martinez headed home. Martinez was on hand again to put Alaves ahead with a scrappy second which proved to be the winner. His shot took a huge deflection off David Lopez and ended up in the net.
The home side had made an easy, gifted comeback and Mallorca looked to be on the ropes. Virgili was invisible in the second half. Muriqi was isolated. Our midfield didn’t exist and the defence, well, they were a disaster.
Once again as at Elche a few games ago, we allowed a direct relegation rival to come from behind to take all three points. Now we must wait and see how the other strugglers face tomorrow. Alaves won just their second home game in their last eight and a second win overall in eleven matches. Meanwhile Mallorca’s away form is dismal. We’ve only won once on the road this season.
SUMMING UP: This one hurts because for 45 minutes it looked like a massive away win was there for the taking. Mallorca started exactly how you’d want in a relegation scrap, focused, compact and clinical when it mattered. After Virgili’s wonder goal, everything seemed under control. We silenced the crowd and forced Alaves into mistakes.
The game plan was working, stay organised, frustrate them and hit when chances came. Going one up into half time felt deserved. Then came the collapse. After the break, Alaves came out with urgency we simply couldn’t match. The momentum shifted quickly and instead of regaining control, Mallorca dropped deeper and deeper.
You could feel the equaliser coming and it did, from a set piece. Worse was to follow within 15 minutes as a deflected effort caught our keeper off guard. Just like that, 0-1 up became 2-1 down. From there our response never really arrived. We had some half-hearted attempts but not enough composure or creativity to come close to an equaliser. Alaves managed the final stages better and won three valuable points that looked unlikely at half time. Once again the second half showed Mallorca’s recurring problem: losing control under pressure. Next up it’s Girona away next Friday (May 1) at 9pm.