Let’s be honest, it’s not been a great start to the season for Real Mallorca. Four games in and they are yet to register a win. If you want to look at it positively, the three teams Mallorca have lost to are currently sitting first (Real Madrid), second (Barcelona), and third (Espanyol) in La Liga. They lost by the odd goal to Madrid and Espanyol, were thrashed by Barcelona while playing with nine men, and their only point came from a 1-1 draw with Celta at home.

Most Mallorca fans hadn’t held out much hope for this game, as they haven’t won at the RCDE Stadium in their last 17 visits. With that in mind, Coach Arrasate went with a defensive 5-3-2 formation. It looked like things were heading the same way in the first half as Espanyol dominated, building up a 2-0 lead with goals from Milla (20 mins) and Fernández (38 mins).

The game changed, though, in added time at the end of the first half. Mallorca were awarded a penalty when Mojica was pulled back in the area, and Muriqi scored from the spot. Things got even better when Milla was sent off for protesting a referee’s decision.

At half-time, Arrasate decided to change things up. He took off centre-half Kumbulla and brought on Virgili, while Morey was replaced by Pablo Maffeo. A lot has been written about Maffeo, who nearly left in the transfer window. For me, he has to be a starter: he’s a quality defender and also offers so much going forward.

The one-man advantage definitely helped Mallorca, and they equalized in the 65th minute with a classic far-post Muriqi header. At that point, you would have said Mallorca were favourites to win the game, but they couldn’t make the numerical advantage count. In fact, it was Espanyol who retook the lead in the 81st minute. Referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández (so bad they named him twice) deemed that Raíllo had fouled Dolan and awarded the penalty.

Mallorca couldn’t find another equaliser, and the game finished 3-2.

They are at home this coming Sunday at 16:15 against Atlético Madrid, who currently sit mid-table after an indifferent start to the season. It would be great to see a Mallorca win.

If you would like tickets for the game, please contact us here or message 0034 670 704 311.

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