Real Mallorca played for an hour with ten men on Saturday night against Champions League side Girona, winning 2-1 in a game that Mallorquinistas will remember for a long time.
The match started well for the visitors, with many of the 15,800 crowd still not in their seats. Dutchman Van der Beek latched on to a poor clearance to open the scoring with a well-struck volley in the seventh minute.
Mallorca were now up against it, as Girona poured forward, but the Palma side, despìte being outnumbered, fought back superbly. In the 20th minute, Darder passed to Larin who in turn gave it to Muriqi. He brilliantly picked out Larin in the area who produced a fine low finish, 1-1.
Minutes later, Muriqi was through on goal and instead of finishing the chance himself, he squared the ball to Cyle Larin but the pass was wayward and a golden opportunity was missed. Muriqi, despite that failed attempt, was everywhere and not long after was involved in an altercation with Spurs loanee Brian Gill. It looked ominous for Muriqi when VAR got involved and the inevitable red card was shown. That’s two sending offs in three games for the Kosovan striker and he could face a longer suspension.
In the 32nd minute, Larin should have made it 2-1 with a downward header that after bouncing off the ground went over the bar. The Canadian striker by now was doing something we haven’t seen from him for ages, and that was having a great game. For the first time since his arrival from Valladolid two summers ago, fans were beginning to chant his name. In the 50th minute, Girona tried to play out from the back when Juanpe passed to goalkeeper Gazzaniga. There was a breakdown in communications as Larin nipped in and picked the keeper’s pocket to make it 2-1 and the Son Moix went ballistic.
Girona looked rattled as they tried to counter-attack but it was Mallorca’s night with our defence putting on an impeccable display of resistance. Somehow Mallorca held on for a fantastic win under adversity. Girona looked leggy after their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday night in the Champions League.
This win was all the better because two of our best players, captain Antonio Raillo and Samu Costa were unable to play due to suspension and injury. No match report would be complete without the mention of a shocking referee, Hernandez Maeso and his crony in crime Figueroa Vazquez in the VAR room. The match referee let many cynical professional fouls from the visitors go unpunished which enraged Mallorca supporters. This was Mallorca’s last home game of 2024 and next Saturday at 14:00 will see their last game of the year away at Getafe in Madrid.
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