Samu Costa’s first-half header saw us overcome relegation rivals Girona 1-0 in an important win for our fight for survival.
Martin Demichelis opted for Omar Mascarell in central defence next to Martin Valjent while Vedat Muriqi led the forward line.
The hosts had the first goalscoring opportunity of the game in the 20th minute when Echeverri managed to race through on goal before Leo Roman spread himself well to tip his finish wide.
Muriqi thought he had given us the lead in the 31st minute when he was teed up on the edge of the box but had his effort cleared off the line by a backtracking defender.
We would head into the break with a slender advantage when Samu Costa headed home Johan Mojica’s teasing cross two minutes from half-time.
Roca almost levelled seven minutes after the restart when he arrived at the back post and tested Leo Roman at his near post with a low drive.
Girona would continue to apply pressure in the second half as Ounahi reacted first to a loose ball and rattled the cross bar from the edge of the box minutes later.
We managed to weather storm and held the hosts at bay for the remainder of the second half with substitute Stuani coming closest to equalising with eight minutes left on the clock, although his low curled effort was well saved by Leo Roman.
We held firm for the remaining minutes to ensure we headed home with a vital three points.
LINE-UPS:
Girona FC: Gazzaniga; A. Francés, Vitor Reis, Daley Blind (Hugo Rincón, 74'); Arnau Martínez, Witsel, Fran Beltrán (Lemar, 74'), Joel Roca (Bryan Gil, 70'); Tsygankov, Ounahi y Echeverri (Stuani, 70').
RCD Mallorca: Leo Román; Maffeo, Valjent, Mascarell, Mojica; Samu Costa, Morlanes (David López, 79'), Pablo Torre (Luvumbo, 66'), Sergi Darder (Llabrés, 79'); Kalumba Jr (Virgili, 46'; Antonio Sánchez, 72') y Vedat Muriqi.
Goals: Samu Costa (min. 43).
