April 04, (THEWILL) — Mallorca inflicted a damaging LaLiga defeat on Real Madrid on Saturday, winning 2-1 at home courtesy of a late Vedat Muriqi strike that will significantly complicate the visitors’ title bid.
Kylian Mbappe wasted two promising first-half openings, unable to convert when through on goal and then seeing a curled effort turned aside by Mallorca goalkeeper Leo Roman.
Manu Morlanes punished Madrid’s profligacy in the 41st minute, collecting Pablo Maffeo’s delivery before wrongfooting Andriy Lunin with a composed finish.
Manager Alvaro Arbeloa brought on Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham in the second half to inject urgency into Madrid’s play, and the changes bore fruit in the 88th minute when Eder Militao diverted Trent Alexander-Arnold’s set-piece delivery into the net.
The equaliser proved short-lived. In the opening moments of five additional minutes, substitute Mateo Joseph laid the ball off to Muriqi on his right, and the Kosovo international drove a powerful finish across Lunin to put Mallorca back in front.
The result leaves Madrid’s title challenge in considerable difficulty. Barcelona, who play Atletico Madrid later on Saturday, have the opportunity to open a seven-point gap at the summit of LaLiga.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
