New manager Javier Aguirre was unable to get his tenure as RCD Mallorca manager off to a winning start as we fell to a 1-0 defeat at Getafe courtesy of Borja Mayoral’s 82nd minute strike.
Aguirre gave some indication as to the type of football he is keen to implement at the club, opting for a compact midfield consisting of Iddrisu Baba, Salva Sevilla and Rodrigo Battaglia, while Fer Niño joined Vedat Muriqi in attack.
Chances were few and far for both sides in the first half as neither side were able to register a meaningful attempt at goal.
The lack of opportunities did little to quell the competitiveness of the fixture, with the referee administering eight yellow cards during the first 45 minutes as we headed into the break deadlocked.
Despite the restart following much of the same tempo as the first half, our afternoon took a turn for the worse as Franco Russo was shown a second yellow card as the VAR adjudged him to have handled in the area.
Sergio Rico managed to deny Enes Ünal’s penalty with a fine save to keep the scoreline level, although we faced an uphill battle having been reduced to 10 men.
Having competed admirably despite our numerical disadvantage, we were unable to hold out for a draw as Borja Mayoral beat the offside trap in the 82nd minute to latch onto Villar’s through ball and finish from close range.
Our run of consecutive defeats extended to seven games come full time as we look to bounce back in our fight for survival with the hosting of Atletico Madrid in a week's time.
RCD Mallorca: Sergio Rico, Baba, Oliván, Russo, Gio González, Pablo Maffeo, Battaglia, Salva Sevilla, Dani Rodríguez, Fer Niño, Muriqi
Substitutes: Ángel Rodríguez por Fer Niño (57’); Antonio Sánchez por Salva Sevilla (86’); Take por Dani Rodríguez (86’); Kang-In Lee por Battaglia (86’)
Goals: Borja Mayoral, 1-0 (82’)
