VAR to the rescue to give Mallorca a late late win

Us Mallorquinistas just love VAR after a crazy last 15 minutes turned this game from a snoozefest into adrenalin-pumping excitement. Mallorca’s Kosovan striker, Vedat Muriqi, took centre stage on Saturday afternoon against Espanyol, scoring an own goal, missing a penalty and then scoring the winning spot kick in the 97th minute. There’s no doubt this was El Pirata’s worst game of the season. It took a lot of bottle, though, for him to take the responsibility of the third penalty kick to score the winner.

Make no mistake, Mallorca were rubbish for long periods but VAR and referee Quintero Gonzalez’s generosity made sure Mallorca reached their goal of 40 points, which virtually seals their survival for next season. There’s also a good chance the fans could be looking forward to travelling through Europe next season, something that hasn’t happened for 20 years.

Mallorca looked the better team in the first half’s early stages, creating a couple of chances, mostly through the veteran Dani Rodriguez. Once again our quality in the final third was poor as we managed just one shot on target in the first half. Things changed dramatically after the break with Espanyol fortuitously breaking the deadlock with a surprise scorer in the 53rd minute, Muriqi inadvertently nodding in an own goal to put 'The Budgies' one up.

I often wonder why, in the modern game at corner kicks, teams don’t put an attacker on the halfway line instead of their main striker standing in their own penalty area trying to clear the ball.

You could have heard a pin drop when the own goal went in, as we lost out again on another clean sheet. Now it was all hands to the pump as Mallorca went on the attack to try and score an equaliser. In the 65th minute a Sergi Darder pass saw the effervescent Japanese winger Takumo Asano head in from six yards, 1-1. Our Nipponese player has at last found a rich vein of form and this was his second goal in as many games. Then Mallorca had a golden opportunity to take the lead a few minutes later, when Mojica was pulled down on the edge of the area, although replays showed later the incident looked outside the box. Up stepped Muriqi but his tame effort was saved. Now it was hands on heads time from a disappointing crowd of 18,240. Mallorca’s hierarchy were hoping for 20,000+.

Suddenly the game was going from yawning to exciting, as Mallorca went all out for the winner that looked to be slipping through their fingers. Fan’s favourite Abdon Prats came on in the 75th minute and then almost immediately won a penalty. The crowd were baying for Abdon to take the kick and he duly obliged, putting the ball on the penalty spot. Big mistake! His effort wouldn’t have burst a paper bag and was easily saved by the visiting goalkeeper.

By now hundreds of fans had assumed a draw was the final result and made for the exits as disappointment hung over the Son Moix. Then a miracle happened. After much fluffing about, the decision was made thanks to VAR that an Espanyol player had encroached into the 18-yard box and the verdict was that the penalty had to be retaken.

Now it was watching through the cracks between the fingers time, as the Mallorca players played “rock, paper, scissors” to see who would take this penalty. The ball was handed to Muriqi, surely he wouldn’t miss again, would he? He didn’t, as he hammered in the winner in what was an incredible finish, rarely seen this season. Mallorca have to thank the referee and VAR for giving us an unlikely three points.

For the first time in ages, Mallorca didn’t receive any yellow cards but Espanyol can feel hard done by. If the same thing had happened to us, there would have been repercussions. One thing Mallorca must sort out over the next couple of weeks are their set pieces, especially free kicks. They were woeful.