Manu Morlanes, Omer Mascarell and Vedat Muriqi were on target as we beat Elche 3-1 in our final home game of 2025.
Jagoba Arrasate opted for Leo Roman in goal at the expense of Lucas Bergstrom while Morlanes and Mascarell formed the base of our central midfield with Sergi Darder in the No.10 role.
We could not have wished for a better start as Morlanes put us ahead in the fifth minute when our midfield received the ball from Jan Virgili, skipped past his marker and fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Virgili almost turned from provider to goalscorer when he raced through on goal in the 13th minute but his effort hit the wrong side of the crossbar and bounced away from danger.
The visitors would level matters in the 21st minute when Pablo Maffeo poked the ball into his own net having been powerless to stop a low cross sent across goal.
This would prove to be the most notable final action of the first half as we headed into the break level.
We came out looking to restore our lead after the restart as Muriqi first had a chance which was saved in the 52nd minute.
We were then limited to half chances as neither side were able to create much in the final third for much of the second half.
However that would change in the 82nd minute when Mascarell’s hard work saw him rewarded by capitalising on a misplaced pass from Inaki Pena and lob the backpedalling goalkeeper from distance.
Mascarell then capped off a fine individual performance when he broke from midfield, raced past his marker on the flank and whipped a cross into the box for Muriqi to put the game beyond doubt and head home in the 89th minute.
With all three points secured we now look to our Copa del Rey fixture at Deportivo this Tuesday evening.
LINE UPS:
RCD Mallorca: Leo Román; Maffeo, Valjent, Raíllo, Mojica; Mascarell, Morlanes (Antonio Sánchez, 71'), Darder (Pablo Torre, 86'); Jan Virgili (Mateu Jaume, 86'), Mateo Joseph (Takuma Asano, 71') y Muriqi (Abdón, 90').
Elche CF: Iñaki Peña; Álvaro Núñez (John, 66'), Chust, Affengruber (André Silva, 87'), Bigas; Germán Valera, Aguado, Aleix Febas, Martin Neto (Rodrigo Mendoza, 78'), Yago Santiago (Álvaro Rodríguez, 66'); y Rafa Mir (Josan, 87').
Goals: Morlanes (min. 5), Pablo Maffeo p.p. (min. 21), Mascarell (min. 82) y Muriqi (min. 89).
