Mallorca has turned Son Moix into a fortress, a stadium where they have not lost since last October and rivals such as Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid have fallen, a winning streak for the vermilions that Villarreal, with 4 consecutive defeats, was not able to break by falling 4-2 this Saturday in a game conditioned by the expulsion of Manu Trigueros in the 20th minute.
The Majorcans' fifth victory in Palma, ninth of the season, places them with 31 points in the table and increasingly closer to the great goal of permanence. The numerical superiority against the Castellón team for 70 minutes facilitated the triumph of Javier Aguirre's team, rounded off with a brace from Dani Rodríguez, both goals from headers, Tino Kadewere and Vedat Muriqi.
The expulsion of Trigueros was key in the development of the first half. The Villarreal player slapped Dani Rodríguez after receiving a tackle from behind the Mallorcan player in an inconsequential action in midfield. The referee showed the yellow card to Rodríguez and the red one to Trigueros.
Until then, the "yellow submarine" had not been in trouble. Dominance and possession of the ball was his until he was outnumbered shortly after Kadewere put the vermillions ahead.
The African's goal, the first scored by a Zimbabwean footballer in the Spanish League, was preceded by an error by goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who in his attempt to give a pass to Raúl Albiol allowed the Kosovar Vedat Muriqi to recover the ball and assist the african tip.
José Luis Morales equalized in the 42nd minute, taking advantage of a bad delivery from the Uruguayan Gío González and shortly after, when it seemed that the two teams were going to half-time with a tie on the scoreboard, Dani Rodríguez put his team ahead again.
Kadewere and the Uruguayan Gío González were the surprises in Mallorca's starting lineup. The Zimbabwean striker had only played 128 minutes spread over five games and the Uruguayan right-back was part of the eleven against Real Madrid due to the loss of center-backs Martín Valjent and José Copete. The former Peñarol player fulfilled his new role as central defender and Aguirre once again trusted him to form the backbone of the defense along with Raillo and Copete.
Villarreal, for their part, appeared in Palma without five regular starting players such as Gio lo Celso, Nico Jackson, Francis Coquelin, Gerard Moreno and Alberto Morales. The most sensitive loss in the "yellow submarine" was that of his reference in attack, Gerard Moreno, who no longer played last day in the defeat (0-1) against Barcelona. His position was taken by José Morales from Madrid, accompanied by Samu Chukwueze and Jeremy Pino.
Villarreal once again revealed a bad start from the Mallorcan defense to tie, once again, as soon as the game resumed through the Nigerian Chamu Chukwueze.
The Balearic team was paying dearly for their defensive failures, but up top they had a Dani Rodríguez touched by a magic wand. The midfielder once again put his team ahead with a brace that places him, with 3 goals, as the team's second highest scorer after Muriqi, with 9 after the goal that Raillo served him on a tray to score the final 4-2.
It had been a long time since Son Moix had celebrated four goals. And they could have been more because the two teams created several dangerous situations in the goals of Rajkovic and Reina. The clearest was the South Korean Kang In Lee, who ran alone for more than 40 meters in search of the fifth goal, but arrived very tired and finished off wide.
The game came to an end with Villarreal rushing their options without fainting, despite playing with 10 more than 70 minutes, against a very reliable Mallorca in Son Moix.
4 - Mallorca: Rajkovic; Maffeo, Gio Gonzalez, Raillo, Copete (Nastasic, min. 78), Coast; Ruiz de Galarreta, Dani Rodriguez (Battaglia, min. 74), Kang In Lee (Grenier, min. 81), Kadewere (Angel Rodriguez, min. 78); Murderer (Abdon Prats, min. 81).
2 - Villarreal: Queen; Foyth, Albiol, Pau Torres, Mojica; Chukwueze (Baena, min. 67), Parejo, Capoue (Terrats, min. 89), Trigueros, Jeremy Pino (Hassan, min. 67); Morales (Morales, min. 89).
Goals: 1-0, min. 20: Tino Kadewere; 1-1, min. 43: Jose Luis Morales; 2-1, min. 45: Dani Rodriguez; 2-2 minutes. 50: Chukwueze; 3-2, min. 56: Dani Rodriguez; 4-2, min. 63: Muriqi.
Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez (Murcian Committee). He sent off Manu Trigueros with a direct red card (min. 21). He admonished Dani Rodríguez (min. 21), Raillo (min. 37), Costa (min. 69), Copete (min. 72) and Nastasic (min. 89).
Incidents: Match corresponding to the twenty-second day of LaLiga Santander played at the Son Moix stadium before 13,957 spectators. A minute of silence was observed for the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Mallorca will donate five euros from each ticket sold for this meeting to those affected by this tragedy.
