We were unlucky to be held to a 1-1 draw against UD Las Palmas after Amath Ndiaye’s first-half strike was cancelled out by Sergio Araujo in the 47th minute.
Luis García Plaza made six changes to the side which beat UD Leganés 1-0 a few days prior. Braian Cufré and Martin Valjent replaced the suspended Brian Oliván and Antonio Raíllo in defence, while Fran Gámez slotted in at right back in favour of Joan Sastre. Aleksandar Sedlar made his long-awaited return from injury at the expense of Iddrisu Baba, while Álvaro Giménez led the line with Abdón Prats among the substitutes.
Our first sight at goal resulted in the game’s opener as Amath Ndiaye notched his ninth strike of the season when he fired home Dani Rodríguez’s pass in the 14th minute.
Clearly buoyed by taking an early lead, Álvaro Giménez was denied from adding a second by a good save from Álvaro Valles minutes later, before Amath then struck high and wide with a wild effort.
Despite creating more throughout the opening exchanges, the hosts finished the first half with a flurry of chances as Manolo Reina was forced to deny Benito Ramírez before Rober González and Sergio Araujo failed to get attempts on target.
The warning signs prior to the break were not heeded as Araujo punished our slow start to the second half when he struck in the 47th minute by applying the finishing touch to Jesé’s through ball.
We were reduced to half chances in the second half as both Valjent and Sedlar were unable to trouble Valles with their efforts as time began to ebb away with the scoreline deadlocked.
While a late chance for Dani Rodríguez and a good save to deny Abdón Prats in added time made for a tense finale, our waves of attack in the dying embers of the game would ultimately go unrewarded. Heading back to Palma with the points shared, our attention now turns to the hosting of Lugo in a week’s time.
RCD Mallorca: Manolo Reina, Fran Gámez, Valjent, Russo, Cufré (78’), Sedlar (70’), Salva Sevilla, Dani Rodríguez, Amath (90’), Antonio Sánchez (90’), Álvaro (78’)
Substitutes: Parera, Sastre (78’), Febas, Abdón (90’), Murilo, Lago Junior, Baba (70’), Mboula (90’), Trajkovski (78’), Marc, Gayà, Mollejo
UD Las Palmas: Valles, Sergio Ruiz, Álex Suárez, Curbelo, Maikel, Jesé, Araujo, Ramírez, Lemos, Clemente (63’), Rober (78’)
Substitutes: Domínguez, Ale Díez, Cardona, Aridai, Athuman, Fabio, Pejiño (63’), Edu Espiau, Kirian (78’), Rivera, Mújica
Goals: Amath, 1-0 (14’); Araujo, 1-1 (47’)
