RCD Mallorca were eliminated from the Copa del Rey in the round of 32 following a difficult 3-1 defeat to Real Zaragoza at La Romareda.
Vicente Moreno opted for an entirely different starting XI to the side that beat Valencia CF 4-1 in La Liga two days earlier. Among the host of changes, Alejandro Pozo was handed his full debut while Aleksandar Trajkovski, Abdón Prats and Marc Pedraza made their second starts of the campaign.
The opening exchanges were played in a subdued manner as rain hailed in northern Spain, with Abdón’s saved attempt from range the only moment of note.
Shinji Kagawa later left Fabricio with his heart in his mouth as a whipped free-kick from 25-yards-out crashed against the crossbar in the 23rd minute.
Abdón would try his luck from a similar distance prior to the interval, although his effort was wide of the mark as we headed into the dressing room level.
Álex Blanco punished our slow start to the second half three minutes after break, putting the finishing touch to a counter-attack by firing low past the outstretched Fabricio.
Things went from bad to worse six minutes later as Javier Puado flicked home a similar sweeping move despite our best efforts to clear the ball off the line.
The hosts put the game out of reach in the 75th minute, with Alberto Soro cutting the ball back for Miguel Linares to stroke into an empty goal.
RCD Mallorca: Fabricio, Sastre, Xisco Campos, Sedlar, Baba Rahman, Kubo, Febas, Pedraza (72’), Trajkovski (59’), Pozo, Abdón (67’)
Substitutes: Parera, Señé (72’), Alegría (67’), Lago Junior, Gámez, Chavarria (59’), Valjent
Real Zaragoza: Ratón, Atienza (80’), Delmás, Grippo, Clemente, Puado (69’), Blanco, Guti (62’), Javi Ros, Shinji Kagawa, Linares
Substitutes: Álvarez, Guitián, Soro (69’), Igbekeme (62’), Eguaras, Suárez, Francés (80)
Goals: Álex Blanco, 1-0 (48’), Javier Puado, 2-0 (54’); Miguel Linares, 3-0 (75’); Aleix Febas, 3-1 (85’)
