Real Mallorca v. Cadiz on Sunday evening.

Real Mallorca v. Cadiz on Sunday evening. | Miquel A. Borras

Monro BrycePalma30/01/2017 00:00
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Real Mallorca held on to their four-game unbeaten run when they drew 0-0 against third-top Cadiz on Sunday night in front of 10,000 fans. Several injury substitutions during the game upset the islanders' rhythm but “Los Cadistas” created clear-cut chances, hitting the post twice. The good news is that Mallorca under Basque coach Javier Olaizola look a much more feisty outfit but still lack that killer instinct in front of goal. The bad news is our injury list got longer and it's expected before the January transfer window slams shut at midnight tonight that some reinforcements will come in. Every single Mallorca player deserves a mention, none more so than young full back Juanjo Nieto and midfielder Juan Dominguez who's another one who's had a new lease of life under Olaizola.

Up front Thierry Moutinho was here, there and everywhere and Brandon put in his usual good shift. Lekic continued to impress but failed to put away a couple of efforts, as did Lago. Cadiz were a well tasty side and on the break caused havoc with their pace. Ex-Mallorca hit-man Ortuño was a constant threat. Injuries to several players and suspensions meant Olaizola had to make enforced changes, bringing in young Nieto for only his second appearance at right wing back.

In the 13th minute Cadiz came close when a snapshot from Alvaro came back off the post, giving Mallorca their wake-up call. Minutes later it was our turn to look menacing, Brandon crossed only to see Lekic's attempt brilliantly saved by Cifuentes. The game was being played at a frantic pace with both teams taking no prisoners and in the 27th minute our makeshift centre-back, Juan Rodriguez, over-stretched going into a tackle. It looked ominous as he was carried off on the motorised stretcher. Reports say he could well be out for several months: not good news. On came the on-loan young Arsenal player, Pleguezuelo.

Mallorca continued to press and still couldn't strike home their advantage as shots rained in from all angles. Then more injury woe as Vallejo limped off. He was replaced by new signing Sasa Zdjelar and the Serbian Under-21 international brought grit and bite into the midfield with some ferocious tackling. More chances came for Mallorca as Lago Junior and Brandon went close. A strange decision near the end saw Lekic taken off and James coming on, so now we had four wingers playing up front. We had a couple of penalty shouts turned down, then Cadiz hit the post. Unbelievably, with ten minutes left to play, people in the 10,000 crowd were leaving what was an exciting game of football.

Summing up: Again we dropped two points simply because we haven't got a proven goalscorer. Mallorca fought tooth and nail for every ball against a slick Cadiz side and we played far better than our lowly fifth-from-bottom league position shows. Near the end our goal-scoring legend Dani Güiza made an appearance for the visitors, nine years after he scored 27 goals in one season for us. Needless to say, he was given a rousing ovation. If that was in England he would have been booed, and he'd be seen as a traitor - how dare he leave our club.