Madrid fight back to beat Mallorca
MADRID: Real Madrid's Jacobo Ramon scored a dramatic winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn them a 2-1 La Liga victory over Mallorca on Wednesday that kept Barcelona's title-winning champagne on ice.
Barca were seconds away from celebrating the title as a 1-1 draw would have given them an unassailable six-point lead in the standings thanks to a superior head-to-head record.
But a mistake by Mallorca's defence, who failed to clear a cross from inside the box, allowed centre back Ramon, making his first league start, to pounce on the ball and fire a volley into the back of the net to keep Real's slim title hopes alive. While Madrid have two games remaining, they are four points behind leaders Barca, who have a game in hand and will claim their 28th La Liga title on Thursday if they beat city rivals Espanyol.
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde in action. — Reuters
An angled strike from inside the box by defender Martin Valjent in the 11th minute gave Mallorca the lead in a dour match at a half-empty Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Kylian Mbappe levelled with a fine individual effort in the 68th minute for a depleted Real, who were missing 12 players due to injuries.
Mallorca weathered a storm as Madrid pushed for a winner, with goalkeeper Leo Roman producing a remarkable performance, frustrating the hosts who dominated proceedings with over 72% of possession, 26 corners in their favour and a stunning 39 scoring attempts against only four by their opponents.
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe in action with RCD Mallorca's Martin Valjent. — Reuters
Roman made 11 stops to deny Real, who also wasted several chances throughout the match.
"Mallorca are a good team. They scored the goal and then dropped off a bit. We had a lot of chances, their goalkeeper played a great game, but in the end we managed to win," unlikely hero Ramon told Real Madrid TV.
"This is inexplicable, I've dreamed about it all my life. This shirt is until the end and there is no better way to score my first goal than like this." — Reuters
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