RCD Mallorca suffered a frustrating 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid at Son Moix courtesy of goals from Diego Costa and João Felix.
Los Bermellones were clearly under instruction not to be bullied by Diego Simeone’s full-blooded approach, setting a physical tempo to an opening 15 minutes which heralded three yellow cards.
The deadlock was broken on the 26th minute when Koke picked up a loose ball following a corner and crossed for Costa to head home at the near post.
Proceedings almost went from bad to worse when referee Hernández Hernández initially adjudged Joan Sastre to have handled Felix’s overheard kick in the box, only to then revoke his penalty decision following consultation with the Video Assistant Referee on the half-hour mark.
A frustrating 45 minutes came to a close with Manolo Reina producing a fine reflex save to deny Felix from a few yards out and keep the hosts in the game.
A reinvigorated RCD Mallorca flew out the blocks after the restart as Take Kubo latched onto Dani Rodríguez’s disguised pass and struck the near post before Ante Budimir’s desperate lunge at goal was cleared on the line by Felipe.
The Japanese winger continued to excite a sold-out Son Moix with the beating of his opposite number, however he was unable to take advantage of Jan Oblak’s loose pass with a shot on the edge of the box wide of the mark.
Finding an equaliser was made all the more difficult with 26 minutes remaining when Budimir deflected Felix’s volley up and over Reina and into the far corner.
Although a second goal may have sucked the momentum out of an encouraging period, the physical nature to the game would eventually yield a red card as substitute Alvaro Morata collected two bookings in the space of a minute following confrontations with Xisco Campos and then Salva Sevilla.
Abdon Prats and Martin Valjient came closest to pulling one back for Los Bermellones, but ultimately their efforts were in vain as the visitors held onto a hard-fought lead.
RCD Mallorca:M. Reina, Sastre, Xisco Campos, Valjent, Lumor Agbenyenu, Baba (67’), Salva Sevilla, Takefusa Kubo, Dani Rodríguez, Lago Junior (62’), Ante Budimir (67’)
Substitutes:Fabri, Gámez, Pedraza, Febas, Aleksandar Trajkovski (62’), Abdón (67’), Alex Alegría (67’)
Atletico Madrid:Oblak, Arias, Savic, Felipe, Lodi, Thomas, Saúl, Koke, Vitolo (57’), João Felix (83’), Diego Costa (69’)
Substitutes:Adán, Morata (69’), Correa (57’), M.Llorente (83’), H.Herrera, Hermoso, Trippier
