RCD Mallorca lost two goals to one against Willem II in a friendly during which the island club played better that it had in any of its previous preseason encounters. The Palma-based club played with more rhythm and possession, and competed well against a team who will start its season in only a week.
The game went on under light rain and started in Mallorca´s favor. Vázquez men held their defensive shape and skirted around the Dutch team´s flanks.
Minutes passed and the locals sat deep, comfortably. Neither team threatened the during the first 20 minutes. A cross from Moutinho and another from Colunga were our only offensive moves in that period.
Then, in the 25th minute, a diagonal ball from Haye to Andrade cut through the Mallorca defense and left Andrade with only Santamaría to beat. Just like that, after controlling the first part of the game, Mallorca was down 1-0 from a lack of recovery speed and lost possession.
Vázquez’ group did not give up or stop. And in the 36th minute, the referee called back a Colunga goal, adjudging him to have been offside after a beautiful pass from Culio was flicked on by Yuste. If he was offside, it was barely.
The second half began and Vázquez again changed the entire eleven, who immediately took the chance to impress by speeding up the tempo and pressing the opponent. In five minutes, Lago Junior siphoned through the Willem II flank like a hot knife through butter.
The locals remained compact, and too compact for Salomao whose 58th minute shot was deflected high. But, in the Dutch team´s first clear chance of the half, Fran Sol cleanly placed the ball in the bottom corner, and the score was 2-0. The script did not change; Mallorca tried and tried with intense pressure high up the field, to no avail.
So, in the 69th minute Oscar Díaz had a great opportunity, only to find the sticky mitts of the Dutch keeper. Willem made effective changes that helped see out the game by matching the Mallorcan intensity. The bermellones maintained possession, but more so in their own half. Vázquez still sought to tie up the score, but again, to no avail. However, this game did show signs of improvement for RCDM.
