A 2-1 defeat at the hands of Granada CF on the penultimate matchday of the season means we are mathematically unable to catch those in front of us and have been relegated to the Segunda División.
Vicente Moreno made just one change to his side following the 2-0 defeat at Sevilla CF four days prior, replacing the suspended Fran Gámez with the once against fit Lumor at left back.
Knowing nothing less than three points would keep us in the race to stay up and the visitors among those vying for a spot in Europe, it was all to play for at the Visit Mallorca Estadi as we also kept a close eye on fellow contenders for the drop Celta Vigo and Deportivo Alavés who faced Levante UD and Athletic Bilbao respectively.
There were few chances for either side in the opening exchanges as Dani Rodríguez and Take Kubo were limited to half chances from inside the area which were unable to test Rui Silva.
There was nothing the shot stopper could do about Cucho Hernández’s opener however, with the forward sprinting the length of the pitch, receiving the ball just inside the opposition’s half before cutting inside past his marker and finding the bottom corner.
Alejandro Pozo;’s blushes were later saved by the post when he awkwardly sent a deep cross into the box towards his goal just before the 40-minute mark as we struggled to stem the visitors’ surges forward in search of an equaliser.
With just minutes remaining of the first half as we entered injury time, we were dealt a cruel blow when Victor Díaz latched onto a defended cross and volleyed into the bottom corner past Manolo Reina.
Flying out the blocks and in need of an instant reply, Ante Budimir was denied from close range by a fine stop from Rui Silva before Roberto Soldado had a carbon-copy opportunity denied thanks to our own goalkeeper getting down well.
As both sides frantically worked towards breaking the deadlock, the crossbar denied Salva Sevilla from a free-kick on the edge of the box before the hour mark, while the quick feet of Kubo later earnt him enough space to lash an effort past the far post.
A goal from Carlos Fernández on the 69th minute gave Granada CF the win, and following a red cards to substitute Aleksandar Sedlar and Cucho Hernández, a difficult night condemned us to the Segunda División.
RCD Mallorca: Reina, Pozo, Raíllo (63’), Valjent, Lumor (71’), Baba (71’), Salva Sevilla, Kubo, Dani Rodríguez, Budimir, Cucho Hernández (87’)
Substitutes: Parera, Sedlar (63’), Campos, Señé, Obrador, Lago Junior (71’), Trajkovski (71’), Salibur, Febas, Chavarría, Luka, Abdon (87’)
Granada CF: Ruis Silva, Víctor Díaz, Germán, Martínez (45’), Neva, Eteki, Yangel Herrera (45’), Vico (63’), Puertas, Machís (87’), Soldado (75’)
Substitutes: Aarón, Andorinha, Ismail, Azeez (75’), Gil Dias (87’), Antoñín, Montoro (63’), Vallejo, Domingos (45’), Carlos Fernández (45’), Mario, Pepe
Goals: Cucho Hernández, 1-0 (20’); Víctor Díaz, 1-1 (45+1’); Carlos Fernández, 1-2 (69’)
