
Mallorca 1-0 Racing Santander
Mallorca clinched a fifth successive home victory at the expense of La Liga strugglers Racing Santander.
Gregorio Manzano's island outfit find themselves in exclusive company in the upper echelons of the table and they again proved too strong at Son Moix thanks to Pierre Webo's 18th-minute goal.
In contrast, Juan Carlos Mandia's Racing side have struggled to find any momentum and have now picked up only seven points from their opening nine games.
Both teams were affected by suspensions, with the hosts missing Josemi and Ivan Ramis following their red cards in last weekend's dramatic draw at Atletico Madrid.
Racing keeper Fabio Coltorti was also serving a ban while Toni Moral failed a fitness test on his foot injury.
Mandia had called for his side to come out of the blocks quickly but it was Mallorca's Victor who had the first sight of goal in the fifth minute, his shot from the left side of the area clearing the bar.
Mohamed Tchite and Borja Valero both failed to hit the target from set-pieces while Oscar Serrano threatened for the visitors but could not keep his shot down.
That miss looked very costly a minute later as Mallorca broke and Valero crossed for Webo to slide the ball home.
Racing continued to push forward but Dudu Aouate was largely untroubled in the home goal as Tchite and Gonzalo Colsa sent in weak efforts.
Valero was proving the difference between the teams and he would have doubled the home side's lead 37 minutes in but for a brilliant save from Antonio Tono after the midfielder got in a close range header.
The Racing keeper was called on again moments later as a spell of Mallorca pressure ended with Felipe Mattioni seeing his shot pushed round the post by Tono.
The second half began in low-key fashion but burst into life on the hour mark when the hosts thought they had doubled their lead.
Julio Alvarez fired in a shot from the edge of the area but referee Miguel Ayza Gamez disallowed the effort.
Sensing the opportunity to put the game to bed, Victor also tried his luck but, not for the first time, his shot cleared the bar.
Mattioni then let fly but Tono easily saved his effort, while the last meaningful action of the game saw Mata Mario Suarez clear the bar as Mallorca had to settle for a one-goal victory.
The three points took the islanders into fourth place above Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna, who both play later today, while Racing dropped to 17th and above the bottom three only on goal difference.
Powered by Disqus
