Lucky Mallorca hang on for a point

Luvumbo, Mallorca's scorer. | Photo: Carlos Gil-Roig

Monro BrycePalma24/10/2026 21:00

There’s a familiar pattern emerging from Real Mallorca after a 1-1 draw in Madrid against Leganes. Once again we started well but finished hanging on by a thread, and being saved by some brilliant goalkeeping from Arnau Tenas.

Mallorca arrived at Butarque cock-a-hoop after their display last weekend in Eibar. Leganes, on the other hand, were desperate for a change in fortunes after four straight defeats. They also had a new coach in the technical area.

The first half looked promising for the visitors. We moved the ball reasonably well and went ahead in the 34th minute. Pablo Torre broke down the left and his shot was parried by Peña in the home goal. Zito Luvumbo stuck out a leg and polished off the rebound, 0-1.

Football very rarely follows a script and the revamped Leganes came out in the second half with all guns blazing. They threw everything at Real Mallorca who seemed to have left any game plan back in the dressing room. Our passing became sloppy and our attacking threat diminished. The home side began to find spaces that were difficult to exploit before half time.

There were periods where our goal led a charmed life until the 57th minute. Franquesa down the left wing was leading our defence a merry dance. His pinpoint cross was missed by a static Mallorca defence and Millan converted to make it 1-1. By now Mallorca looked sluggish and there were numerous fouls by both sides which didn’t help the momentum of the game.

Ex-Mallorca player Dani Rodriguez committed some skulduggery. Tenas attempted to launch a counter attack with a throw from the edge of the penalty area. Rodriguez pushed the goalkeeper to obstruct the release. The keeper acted angrily during the ensuing scuffle and Rodriguez fell to the ground pole-axed. He remained on the pitch clutching his face after Tenas grabbed his shirt, an apparent ploy to attempt to get a harsher penalty for the goalkeeper by feigning an assault to the face. Both participants were booked by female referee Olatz Rivera who handled the game brilliantly considering it was very tasty in bits. She dished out eight yellow cards, four to each side. Leganes committed 19 fouls to Mallorca’s six.

In the dying minutes of a poor game, Tenas produced a brilliant intervention to save a certain winner in added-on time. One point away from home is better than none but the feeling after the game was that Mallorca had it in their hands and let it slip. If we are serious about wanting promotion we must learn to turn promising performances into victory.

Next up is a cup match on Wednesday night away at Alcorcon (Alicante) at 9pm. This won’t be a gimme for Mallorca as the local team are known as “Matagigants” (giant killers) as they’ve taken the scalps of a few big sides over the years. This game is live on local free-to-air TV station IB3. Next home game in La Liga Hypermotion is on Monday, November 2, kick off 9pm against Cadiz.