Gabriel’s fourth-minute strike was the difference on a tough afternoon as we fell to a 1-0 defeat against Valencia at the Visit Mallorca Estadi.
Luis García Plaza opted to replace the injured Íñigo Ruiz de Galarreta with Antonio Sanchez in central midfield, while Take Kubo, Ángel, Dani Rodríguez supported Muriqi in attack.
We couldn’t have wished for a worse start as Gabriel put the visitors in front with an unstoppable strike from outside of the box in the fourth minute.
Muriqi almost provided an instant response two minutes later when he was played through on goal, although Giorgi Mamardashvili made a smart stop to block his effort.
The end-to-end start to the game soon pleated out as our next opportunity to level matters came moments before the break as Kubo fired inches wide from inside the box.
We came out on the offensive after the break in search of an equaliser as Jaume Costa came close to scoring when he was played through on goal and forced Mamardashvili into a block from close range.
Our defenders continued to try their luck as Pablo Maffeo saw a long-distance strike fly inches over the bar in the 53rd minute.
Sergio Rico was called into action five minutes later and had to be at his best to make a series of smart stops.
Our afternoon went from bad to worse as manager Plaza was sent off, before Valencia were reduced to 10-men as laix Moriba received his marching orders for a wild challenge on Antonio Raillo in injury time.
Despite our best efforts and the late drama, we were unable to find a late equaliser as our good form at home came to an end.
