A sublime first half, one of the best they’ve played for a long time, saw Real Mallorca in front of a 20,000 crowd defeat La Liga leaders Girona 3-2 to reach the Copa del Rey semi-finals for the first time since 2009, and we also inflicted Girona’s first away defeat of the season. The semi-final is over two legs and will be played on February 7 and 28 with the draw being made at 1pm this Friday. In that draw there will be no Real Madrid or Barcelona, which means Mallorca may have a better chance of reaching another Copa del Rey final, as they did in 2003.
Mallorca completely dominated the first half with brilliant attacking football and took the lead in the 20th minute. A tireless Dani Rodriguez, who played an absolute blinder, was involved in setting up a gift for Larin, 1-0. Then local hero Abdon Prats took centre stage, hitting a left-foot screamer into the top corner of Girona’s net, 2-0. That strike got the crowd on their feet and more was to come soon after. VAR intervened for a handball decision by a Girona defender and Abdon converted the resultant spot kick.
By this time Mallorca fans were in dreamland, rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Girona flattered to deceive, looking good in their build-up but lacking a cutting edge in the penalty area. After the break the Girona coach Michel was forced to bring on his big guns, one of them being giant Ukranian striker Dobvyk, who had scored three goals in six minutes last weekend against Sevilla.
With these changes Girona began to take control but Mallorca’s resolute defence remained strong. Then in the 67th minute, mayhem broke loose as Mallorca’s captain Antonio Raillo had allegedly blocked a Girona attacker. Raillo started to rant at the referee, who promptly showed him a second yellow card followed by a red. Stuani netted the penalty and the visitors were back in the game.
By now ten-man Mallorca were up against it as Girona attacked in waves, a second goal looked likely. With time running out, Man City player Savio pulled another back to make it 3-2. Panic in the Mallorca ranks set in. The last few minutes were excruciating for us Mallorquinistas as the new Girona threw everything but the kitchen sink and the plug at our under-pressure defence. Somehow our numerically disadvantaged team held on for a famous win.
The scenes at the end were ecstatic as players and fans alike celebrated one of the best wins in the history of the club. I said the other day to expect an upset, and so it came to pass. The dream continues.
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This cup game was brilliant, first half best Mallorca have played for a long time, on the front foot, taking the game to the opposition at speed. Second half, maybe because Girona got their act together, was back to the usual defensive mindset, but great they held out. Note to coach - First half proved attacked can be the best form of defence. .