RCD Mallorca: Bumped and Battered
On Saturday 5th October this Mallorquinista and fellow fan Nicholas set off in darkness for Palma airport eagerly anticipating the trip to Barcelona for the away game at Espanyol. We were told by the airline that there was an overbooking on the flight and we had been bumped to a 13.30 flight. As the match kicked off at 14.00 this was a bitter blow. We frantically visited all the other airlines to see if there were any seats available without success. There wasn’t a ferry that could fit the bill so we were resigned to staying on the island and watching the game on television.
Mallorca travelled to Catalunya full of confidence after three away wins on the spin but for some inexplicable reason they allowed the home side to dominate from the off. Espanyol were quicker to the ball and sharper in the tackle. They were roared on in the Cornella Prat stadium by their fanatical fans known as The Pericos and took a deserved lead in the 18th minute when Albanian Kumbulla headed in a perfect cross from Jofre.
Mallorca needed to pull up their socks after the interval but Espanyol doubled their lead two minutes after the break. Jofre turned from provider to goalscorer following a counter attack instigated by Cardona.
Head coach Arrasate waited until the 60th minute before throwing on four substitutes and the visitors visibly improved. Abdon Prats brought out a good save from Garcia. On 68 minutes Chiquino’s corner was bundled in by Raillo and Mallorca piled on the pressure as the home side resorted to the time wasting tactics common in La Liga when a team is leading. Arrasate in his post-match interview recognised that he should have made his substitutions earlier and tellingly remarked that his side cannot expect to win when they only compete for 30 minutes.
On 27th September Mallorca travelled to Valladolid and came away with a textbook away win. Factually, Cyle Larin opened the scoring against his former team on 59 minutes and substitute fullback Valery scored his second goal in two matches on 83 minutes. Four minutes into stoppage time Sanchez pulled one back for Valladolid but it was a comfortable win for The Reds.
Arrasate has worked wonders for Larin’s confidence by giving him full support as a replacement for the injured Muriqi and the Canadian International had easily his best game for the club. Sergi Darder has similarly responded and is finally justifying his big money transfer fee.
Another international break is upon us and it means a blank weekend for domestic football. Mallorca have four players travelling away with their national squads – Mojica with Colombia, Larin with Canada, Navarro with Spain under 21s and for the first time Samu Costa with Portugal. Costa is an all action midfield player who was previously employed in a deep lying role but Arrasate has taken the shackles off him and he has responded with vibrant attacking displays. That has been rewarded with a deserved call up to his international squad.
After the internationals Mallorca finally have two home games in a row to get back to winning ways and put the defeat at Espanyol behind them. Sunday 20th October at 14.00 sees Real Vallecano (the third La Liga team in Madrid) come to Palma’s Son Moix Stadium. Athletic Bilbao are the opposition on Monday 28th at 21.00. Tickets are available online from the club’s website www.rcdmallorca.es.
