Amath Ndiaye’s 59th minute strike saw us overcome a 10-man Albacete BP at the Carlos Belmonte to record our third consecutive victory.
Luis García Plaza made two changes to the side which beat Girona CF 1-0 at the Visit Mallorca Estadi. Franco Russo replaced Martin Valjent in central defence, while Jordi Mboula started in offence as Antonio Sánchez reverted to a makeshift right back in leu of the injured Joan Sastre and Fran Gámez.
A tentative start against a side unbeaten this year yielded little opportunities in the final third as we struggled to get in-behind La Alba’s defensive lines during the opening exchanges.
It would take until the 28th minute before we had our first real sight at goal as Antonio Sánchez picked the ball up on the edge of the box and fired inches wide of the far post.
Despite the slow start, matters were not without drama as 10 minutes later Nico Gorosito received his marching orders for a second bookable offence when he fouled Abdón Prats.
Dani Rodríguez had our final chance of a competitive first half when he broke forward from midfield and miscued his effort from the edge of the box as we headed into the dressing room level.
We came out on the offensive after the break and were almost rewarded for maurding runs down the flank when Abdón stretched to head over the bar in what would be his final action of the game as new loan signing Álvaro Giménez was introduced.
The warning signs were there for the hosts but ultimately went unheeded as Amath Ndiaye opened the scoring when a deflected clearance fell to the forward in the 59th minute. The striker could make no mistake from a few yards out and calmly slipped the ball past the on-rushing Tomeu Nadal to score his third goal in as many games.
A spectacular individual effort from Dani Rodríguez would be the closest we would come to adding a second, although the game would not end with a late scare as Albacete BP were awarded a penalty in the 87th minute after Álvaro Jiménez was fouled by Salva Sevilla. The winger took the resulting penalty, although could only strike the woodwork to ensure we headed back to the island with all three points.
Attention will now turn to our hosting of RCD Espanyol in a first-versus-second clash.
RCD Mallorca: Manolo Reina, Antonio Sánchez, Raíllo, Russo, Oliván (54’), Ruiz de Galarreta (54’), Salva Sevilla, Dani Rodríguez, Amath (75’), Mboula (89’), Abdón (54’)
Substitutes: Parera, Koke Vegas, Febas (54’), Murilo, Lago Junior (89’), Trajkovski, Cufré (54’), Cardona, Valjent, Gayà, Mollejo (75’), Álvaro Giménez (54’)
Albacete BP: Tomeu Nadal, Arroyo, Garcia, Gorosito, Manu Fuster (42’), Zozulia (76’), Alvaro JG, Caballo (62’), Silvestre (76’), Mvondo, Boyomo
Substitutes: Bernabé, Benito, Tana, Diamanka (76’), Jimenez, Ortuño (76’), Alvaro Peña, Kecojevic (42’), Cedric (62’), Vargas, Gomez
Goals: Amath Ndiaye, 59’, 0-1
