Real Mallorca ended their dismal run of form away from home with a one nil win away at Real Sociedad B on Saturday the 19 th of September.
Pablo Torre was restored to the starting lineup in place of Josep Cerda. He was prominent in the early stages playing the ball forward from midfield and almost scored with a mazy dribble that ran out of steam. After that the home side took complete control with many flowing moves particularly down their right hand side. Mallorca´s French central defender Soumahoro was pressed into service in the left back position an Toni Lato was only deemed fit enough after injury to be on the bench. The other left back in the squad Alberto Moreno who was signed at the last minute of the transfer window has not appeared on match days due to lack of fitness.
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Half time came and went and Mallorca introduced Puigmal at right back in place of youth team player Calatayud but he made little difference. In the San Sebastian sunshine the match became a little feisty with a couple of booking involved. Head coach Garcia took off Liso and Sala replacing them with Cerda and Roca but the match was slipping to a goalless draw as the home side tired. Captain Raillo went off with cramp and John Chetauya made his debut to replace the visibly tired captain. Beanpole striker Buksa was thrown on by Garcia to join Fuentes up front to make up Mallorca´s tallest strike partnership for many years.
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The game was limping to a draw when on 80 minutes Fuentes provided a real moment of class cutting in from the right, drawing the keeper and scoring with a precise left foot finish. Certainly a lucky win but hopefully this will get the monkey of the away record off the players backs and they can perform better in the upcoming fixtures away from the island.
Goalkeeper Blunder
The next visitors to the Son Moix were Almeria on the 27 th of September. This was the first weekend of the International break but the Spanish second division does not pause. Mallorca lost three players to call ups – long serving defender Valjent to Slovakia , winger Luvumbo to Angola and second choice goalkeeper Bergstrom to Finland. Almeria were amongst the favourites to gain promotion to La Liga along with Mallorca and the first serious test for the underperforming reds. The visitors head coach is Salva Sevilla who is a legend on the island having played for the reds for 5 years arriving in 2017. He was a cultured midfield player known as the Silver Fox because of his grey hair.
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Bad news came before the match with the news that Luvumbo had dislocated his shoulder playing for Angola the night before. It remains to be seen how long he will be out of action.
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Team news showed that John Chetauya was drafted in to replace the absent Valjent in defence. Antonio Roca was preferred to Darder who was relegated to the bench. The home side began brightly and Roca was clean through on goal early on but the visiting keeper veteran Andrés Fernández saved his effort comfortably. Shortly after Pablo Torre hit the post and hopes were high.
On 20 minutes Roca went down injured and had to be carried off and from then on the match changed completely. On 24 minutes Embarba took a free kick outside the box and it went straight to home keeper Arnau Tenas at chest height. Instead of catching the ball he batted it straight down – onto his own foot ! – and the ball rebounded to Miguel de la Fuente who gleefully prodded home the gift.
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From then on the visitors defended their lead stoutly and using all the dark art tricks of timewasting. The referee appeared oblivious to their tactics and constantly blew for free kicks in Almeria´s favour whenever their players threw themselves to the ground. The crowd were incensed and another injury to midfield player Morlanes on the stroke of half time meant he was replaced by Darder in the second half.
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Mallorca had virtually all the possession in the second half but couldn’t find a breakthrough without creating any serious chances. The referee blew for constant undeserved free kicks for Almeria and with a few minutes left he showed a straight red card to captain Raillo for a foul. The defender actually refused to leave the pitch and after an interminable wait the referee was told by VAR to view the decision on the pitch side monitor and he promptly rescinded the red card. Senor Daniel Palencia was booed furiously at the final whistle and rightly so but the fact is Mallorca could not find a way through , playing the ball sideways and backwards continuously.
The result leaves Mallorca in sixth place in the league, three off the automatic promotion spot.
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Next up is a trip to Girona on Sunday the 4 th of October at 21.00. The Catalan side were relegated from La Liga along with Mallorca at the end of last season and are currently on the same number of points as the reds. They will be a stern test for Mallorca´s fragile away form. Both Roca and Morlanes are highly unlikely to be fit to take part.
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After that its an inter island derby against Las Palmas from Gran Canaria on the 11 th of October at 18.30
Charles Nutter
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