A dream come true for Mallorca - 30 points at Christmas

Real Mallorca have, for the time being, moved to within three points of La Liga’s top four after a hard-fought 0-1 victory against “Dirty” Getafe at their Estadio Coliseum in Madrid on Saturday lunchtime. After this victory (in which Mallorca never won a single corner kick), the islanders achieved a record-breaking 30 points before the Christmas break. Hector Cuper’s record of 29 in season 1998/99 never looked to be surpassed. Born-again striker Cyle Larin was a thorn in the opponents’ defence. He chased every lost cause and looks a different player under Arrasate’s tutorship.

With Getafe holding the bragging rights of having the best defensive record in La Liga, this game looked a tricky encounter for Mallorca, but throughout the 95 minutes played, they refused to buckle under intense pressure from the home side, who, if they had a striker of any note, could possibly have won.

Mallorca found it hard going to get anywhere near Getafe’s goal early doors, but came close twice in the 23rd and 26th minutes through Darder and Japanese winger Asano. Dominik Greif was outstanding in goal for Mallorca and, in my opinion, he deserved to be named our man of the match in a game that certainly wasn’t for the neutral football purists.

In the second half, Mallorca rolled up their sleeves as Getafe pushed and prodded to find an equaliser, but captain Antonio Raillo and his defensive mates were well up to the task. In the 53rd minute came the break-though. Larin fought for the ball with Getafe defender Berrocal outside the area, then the defender put his foot in when Larin was just inside the 18 yard box and after VAR viewing, the referee whistled for the penalty. Larin sent Getafe’s keeper Soria the wrong way, 0-1. From then on it was backs to the wall with Getafe running out of ideas how to break down the Mallorca back line. The home side’s expected dominance never came beyond a couple of crosses.

So there we have it – a huge victory for the team to close the year. Mallorca players can now put their feet up for a week before we face Pontevedra in the Copa del Rey in Galicia on January 3.

PS: Nice to meet Nick and his daughter from Santa Ponsa who sat on the table next to us in the Mallorca Sports Bar. Yet another Arsenal fan – as if there weren’t enough “Gooners” on the island already!