Granada 2 – Real Mallorca 0 Following earthquakes in the region, Real Mallorca failed to shake Granada on Monday night when the Palma side were given a dose of reality with a 2-0 defeat. The Mallorca Sports Bar was standing room only as fans were looking forward to seeing a Mallorca away win for the first time in many months – wishful thinking! There are defeats that leave you angry, defeats that leave you disappointed and then there are nights like this one in Granada
when fans left the bar wondering how we ended up with nothing. The 2-0 scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. Mallorca had 60% possession and controlled most of the second half yet somehow the home side walked away with all three points. From the opening minutes it looked like Mallorca would be capable of causing the home side problems. Fuentes was through early on and fired into the side netting. Shortly after, he found the net but was marginally offside. Granada grew into the game
and Mallorca found it difficult to cope with their quick counterattacks. The first goal scored after 19 minutes was frustration personified. After Mallorca’s defence failed to clear a loose ball, Alemañ found the net with our goalkeeper Arnau Tenas getting a touch to the ball but he was unable to keep it out, 1-0. For me, the jury is out on our new goalkeeper. After half time we played better but lacked that cutting edge although it looked like an equaliser was coming. Then came
the incident that had everybody talking. Granada took a corner kick before the referee blew his whistle and the ball hit Puigmal and went into the net for an own goal. Puigmal immediately complained that play had restarted before the referee’s signal but the official upheld his decision, 2-0. Mallorca players and the bench went ballistic and the referee, who by now had lost the plot, sent off our goalkeeping coach for “giving it large.” The circumstances were extraordinary and the outcome completely changed the
game. We had been pushing for an equaliser but suddenly found ourselves two down with ten minutes left to play. On the night players like Pablo Torre and Zito Luvumbo were disappointing and for new coach Luis Garcia it’s still a case of work in progress. The disappointment will linger because of the second-goal controversy, but with 40 games left to play, one defeat doesn’t change the ambition of the club to get back into the big time. SUMMING UP: this was a game which
really got away from us.
Granada, Real Mallorca, 2-0, Mallorca Sports Bar, Fuentes, Alemañ, Arnau Tenas, Puigmal, Luis Garcia, Pablo Torre, Zito Luvumbo