Valencia’s surprise win over Real Madrid during the previous weekend’s action did wonders for their chances of survival, but an impenetrable shadow was cast over the result due to racist abuse directed at Real winger Vinicius Junior over the course of the match.
Aiming to reflect the club’s true values on the pitch tonight, Ruben Baraja’s young side travelled to the Balearics with more to play for than their opponents, who saw favourable results on matchday 35 guarantee their safety despite suffering a 3-0 defeat at Almería.
In turn, Valencia dominated the early possession, but proved unable to cause a major stir in the Mallorca box in the opening stages.
The aerial presence of Hugo Duro in particular sparked some nervousness in the Mallorca back line, while Diego Lopez’s shot from close range would have crept into the bottom corner but for the toe of Predrag Rajkovic.
The home side grew into the game after the latter scare, but an uneven playing surface was clearly affecting the fluidity of play, as exemplified when Amath Ndiaye scuffed his shot into the grateful arms of Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Despite residing just two points above the drop zone before the match, Valencia knew that a successful second half could practically seal their safety, but fate had other ideas.
Of all potential heart breakers, former Mestalla man Lee Kang-In was lively against his former club, and it was his contribution that led to the opener, as a whipped cross found the head of Vedat Muriqi, who made no mistake to put Mallorca one up.
The introductions of Edinson Cavani and Justin Kluivert promised to produce some late fireworks for Valencia, and the latter darted inside to sting the gloves of Rajkovic, but the visitors were impotent in attack, and never looked worthy of a late equaliser.
With this defeat, Valencia still have work to do - although the sheer number of teams below them in the standings still render relegation a small possibility rather than a significant one.
Meanwhile, an eighth win in 13 home matches sends Mallorca fans home happy, but they will still want to see a strong conclusion to the campaign, as an 11th-placed finish would represent Los Bermellones’ best outcome in LaLiga since the 2011/12 season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lee Kang-In (Mallorca)
