Amath Ndiaye’s first-half strike and Álvaro Giménez’s first goal since returning to the club saw us register a 2-1 win over FC Cartagena at the Visit Mallorca Estadi.
Luis García Plaza made just one change to his side following a 1-0 win at UD Logroñes a week ago. Joan Sastre returned to the starting XI in place of Fran Gámez having recovered from injury.
Chances were few and far between throughout the opening exchanges as we had to wait until the 20th minute before we had a sight at goal as Amath Ndiaye reacted first to a loose ball and fired wide.
We managed to get the ball in the back of the net 18 minutes later, although a VAR review ruled out Dani Rodríguez’s strike for an earlier offside.
We would ultimately head into the break with the lead as Ndiaye opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time by latching onto Salva Sevilla’s through ball and guiding a placed effort into the bottom corner.
The game remained a cagey affair upon the restart as half chances for Abdón Prats and Ndiaye were the closest we would come to doubling our advantage in the second half’s opening 15 minutes.
Despite one of the brighter spells of play in terms of possession, the visitors soon struck against the run of play as Manolo Reina was powerless to stop David Forniés’ volley from 20-yards out.
VAR would be in action once again in the 78th minute as following a lengthy review, David Andujár was adjudged to have handled in the box. Alvaro Gimenez was handed responsibility for the resulting penalty, and held his nerve to restore our lead and register his first goal since his loan move.
FC Cartagena desperately searched for a late equaliser in the closing stages, although our defence remained resolute to ensure all three points. Attention now turns to our trip to Sporting Gijón in a week’s time.
RCD Mallorca: Manolo Reina, Sastre, Raíllo, Valjent (85’), Cufré, Baba (65’), Salva Sevilla (82’), Dani Rodríguez, Amath (82’), Antonio Sánchez, Abdón (65’)
Substitutes: Koke, Parera, Gámez, Russo (85’), Febas (82’), Murilo, Trajkovski, Mboula (65’), Marc Cardona, Álvaro (65’), Mollejo (82’), Lago Junior
FC Cartagena: Chichizola, Andújar, D. Fornies, Datkovic, Rubén Castro (70’), De Blasis, Elady, Azeez (83’), David Simón, Arbujania (83’), Delmás (77’)
Substitutes: Marc Martínez, Esteve, Cristian (70’), Cayarga (77’), Jose Angel (83’), Carrasquilla (83’), Antoñito, Carlos David, Claveria, Uri, Santiesteban (83’)
Goals: Amath Ndiaye, 1-0 (45’); D. Fornies, 1-1 (64’); Álvaro Giménez, 2-1 (81’)
