Joan Sastre during Mallorca's two-nil away win against Ebro.

Joan Sastre during Mallorca's two-nil away win against Ebro. | Daniel Marzo

Monro BrycePalma16/10/2017 00:00
TW
0

Real Mallorca made it eight wins from nine games when they beat Zaragoza side Ebro two-nil with two goals in the first 15 minutes. We've now scored 17 and conceded a meagre two. There's nothing better than supporting a team that's winning games in whatever league they're playing in, as once again the Palma side stamped their authority on a match which, in the second half, became a “scrap” fest on a tiny pitch which meant the game was bereft of good football.

Proceedings were only five minutes old when Alex Lopez broke free in the penalty area and his howitzer left foot shot gave Salva in the home goal no chance. Mallorca continued to rule the roost and ten minutes later doubled their lead. After an Ebro free kick was saved by our keeper, Manolo Reina, he cleared the ball via Sastre to Ferran Giner, who brought the ball brilliantly under control, scampered into the area and hammered in the second. That's two goals in as many games for the ex-Nastic Tarragona, Valencia-born player, who for the second week running was our “man of the match” and is definitely the form player at the moment. Mallorca held on comfortably to go in at the break with their two-goal cushion.

That was all to change in the second half as suddenly Ebro woke up. They monopolised the play as Mallorca defended in depth. The home side forced a succession of corners, none of which came to fruition as Mallorca basically “parked the bus” defending in numbers. Our one and only chance in the second half became a massive talking point. Lago Junior hit a spectacular cross come shot from distance which hit the crossbar with Salva clutching at mid-air. The ball rolled towards the line and looked to all intents and purposes to have been over. However, referee Sergio Perez Muley and his touchline assistant adjudged the ball not to have crossed the line. From TV replays it looked suspiciously like the ball had crossed the line, but without goal-line technology the decision stood.

Ebro posed huge threats down the right flank as Bonilla struggled to keep in touch, especially up against Rubiato. Again, if the home side had a striker of any note, Mallorca could have been in trouble. As it turned out, that didn't happen and our defence was sound. Although the home team took complete charge, possession-wise they never looked like scoring as Mallorca hung on to claim yet another win and clean sheet number eight.