Mallorca celebrate their opening goal against Almeria

Celebrating Larin's goal. | Cati Cladera

Monro BrycePalma20/05/2024 07:33
TW
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Real Mallorca somehow salvaged a 2-2 draw against already-relegated Almeria on Sunday night which meant the result, coupled with Cadiz’s 0-0 draw at home to Las Palmas, secured our place in La Liga for another season. The star of the show was Sergi Darder who, after an indifferent campaign, came good when it mattered most on Sunday night and in a dazzling display showed the kind of form us fans expected of him after several great seasons at Espanyol. His strike in the 83rd minute gave him a second goal in five days and drew Mallorca level against an always-dangerous Almeria.

We opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Larin (lethal from a yard out!), questioned so many times this season for missing countless sitters, put the Palma side ahead. Mallorca should have doubled their lead when Muriqi was wasteful in front of goal. Since coming back from injury received last November the big Kosovan hasn’t been the striker of old and his lack of accuracy cost Mallorca dearly. Just before half time ex-Real Madrid youth team player Arribas, who was on Mallorca’s radar last summer, scored after a cross hadn’t been properly cleared, 1-1.

In the second half, Mallorca found another gear but once again our finishing verged on woeful. Then came one of the goals of the season. From all of 40 yards out, Almeria’s Mozambican full back Bruno Langa hit a missile past Rajkovic and the 20,573 crowd were stunned into silence, 1-2.

Mallorca continued to push forward but suffered from the same thing which has given them headaches all season, a lack of a “fox in the box” to bury whatever chances came their way. As the clock ticked down, nerves began to take over as the Son Moix faithful pumped up the volume. Then came the equaliser in the 83rd minute and it was a belter from Sergi Darder.

As the game came to a close, all thoughts turned to the Cadiz game against Las Palma where neither side had so far scored. Cadiz had the ball in the net at one stage but the goal was cancelled by VAR. That game had seven minutes of added-on time as ours came to an end. Unbelievably some people left the ground but the vast majority stayed to peer into their mobile phone screens, then came the biggest roar of the night as the result came through that Cadiz could only draw and were relegated. Cue fireworks and celebrations as Mallorca somehow managed to stay in the “promised land” of Spanish football for a fourth consecutive season.