Abdón Prats celebrates his penalty. | LaLiga SmartBank

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Real Mallorca 2 - Almeria 0

Mallorca went into Sunday's LaLiga SmartBank match against third-placed Almeria having slipped to second following Espanyol's win over Sabadell on Saturday.

Almeria's Georgian 'keeper, Giorgi Makaridze, pulled off two good saves in the opening minutes to deny Dani Rodríguez and Salva Sevilla. His opposite number, Manolo Reina, kept out Umar Sadiq shortly before the end of a first half that had otherwise been short of scoring opportunities until Mallorca were awarded a penalty in the 43rd minute. Defender Nikola Maras was adjudged to have handled and Abdón Prats made no mistake from spot.

A fine move on seventy minutes saw Salva Sevilla set up by Abdón for Mallorca's second. Juan Vilar wasted Almeria's best chance four minutes later, and while the visitors pressed in looking for a way back, they gave Mallorca no more nervous moments.

Mallorca return to the top, two points ahead of Espanyol and five ahead of Almeria.