A great second half as Mallorca beat Rayo

RCD Mallorca continued their brilliant start to the La Liga season with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Rayo Vallecano in front of 18,316 fans on Sunday lunchtime.

The first half was full of misplaced passes and missed goal attempts, with Mallorca coming close on several occasions. Man of the match Vedat Muriqi fluffed a sitter from a yard out when unmarked; his downward header looped over the crossbar. Little was seen of Vallecano in the first period, with their goalkeeper Batalla continuously wasting time with his clearances and distribution, especially when it came to playing out from the back. Both sides failed in their attempts to perform this manoeuvre and in my opinion this ploy should be abandoned by lesser footballing sides.

Muriqi was back to his best and in the second half once again continued his habit of scoring every time he’s faced Rayo Vallecano. In the 75th minute, substitute Dani Rodriguez swung over a pinpoint corner and Muriqi was totally unmarked with a bullet header, 1-0.

With time running out, many fans were vacating the Son Moix as we thought Sanchez had bundled in the second. However, the goal was adjudged offside by VAR. On that subject, in most European footballing countries VAR intervention in play is normally flashed up on the scoreboard, e.g. “VAR looking into a possible offside decision.” Fair enough. However, in Spanish football and in the Son Moix on Sunday, there was absolutely no indication whatsoever as to why the referee had stopped play, with instructions from the VAR official in Madrid. The paying fans have to know the reason why play is halted, there’s nothing worse than not being informed.

Ahead of kick-off, Mallorca’s 14 point total after nine games was their joint best total in La Liga since 2009/10. Now, after match day 10, they have 17 points. So far this season, the Palma side remain one of only two teams in La Liga yet to drop a single point after scoring the first goal. Next up, a tasty encounter against Athletic Club (Bilbao) in Son Moix a week on Monday, 28th at 9pm. Mallorca lost in the final of the Copa del Rey to them in May on penalties, so we want revenge. Let’s hope it’s sweet!