Real Mallorca earned a valuable point in a 1-1 draw against Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. It had been a decade since Mallorca’s last victory at the stadium.
In the first half, the team from Palma did not perform well, except for a brief period of five minutes before half time. However, their luck seemed to change when the referee and VAR officials made a controversial decision in the 47th minute. A foul was awarded to Sevilla, resulting in a scrambled goal by Kike Salas. Mallorca’s Copete was clearly obstructed during the play, but the goal was still validated by VAR. This put Mallorca behind 1-0 at half time.
Whatever was said during the team’s halftime break seemed to have a positive effect as they came back onto the field with a renewed determination. They were more involved in the game, but still struggled with giving away possession too easily. In the 67th minute, Robert Navarro was substituted for Japanese winger Asano, which proved to be a game-changing move. Navarro was the main player to watch and had a close chance at scoring the equaliser shortly after coming on. In the 76th minute, coach Arrasate made three more substitutions, bringing on Larin, Antonio Sanchez, and Abdon Prats in hopes of scoring the elusive equaliser.
Mallorca had not scored any late goals this season, but in the 92nd minute, Martin Valjent broke the streak by scoring his first La Liga goal in four years. Navarro’s cross caused confusion for Sevilla’s goalkeeper, allowing Valjent to score from the rebound and sending the crowd into celebration. Despite Sevilla’s protests, the goal stood and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Mallorca is now tied with Rayo Vallecano and Real Betis on 35 points, though the latter two have better goal differences.
