Levante prevail in pivotal six-pointer to leave Mallorca in deep relegation trouble

[p]With the two sides locked on 39 points this was always going to be packed with nerves, and with defences on top, neither goalkeeper was forced into a save before the half-hour mark.[/p][p][b]That said, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/espi-carlos/WURwLTen/"]Carlos Espí[/a] had shown flashes of potential during the early minutes, and he eventually gave the hosts a precious lead with their very first shot on target, when firing in from the edge of the box after managing to capitalise on some poor [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mallorca/4jDQxrbf/"]Mallorca[/a] defending.[/b][/p][p]Mallorca were shellshocked, but almost responded instantly, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/luvumbo-zito/QZQ9DtPs/"]Zito Luvumbo[/a] attempted to head in a lofted cross when outjumping everyone else. He got a clean connection, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ryan-mathew/YBLvziIh/"]Mathew Ryan[/a] denied him a leveller with brilliant reflexes.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="24fc3caa-9125-4157-b785-c83b80c53aa8" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="b65c9ebc-85fe-4cf3-80e8-5fb841ae8b9c" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]That was as close as the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/blackburn/6Nl8nagD/"]Pirates[/a] came to equalising before the break, and with other scores going against them, they were sat 19th at the break – three points off safety.[/p][p]The second half began in the same nervy fashion of the first, though [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/romero-ivan/lbxUqXq3/"]Iván Romero[/a] was left frustrated when seeing a shot go just wide of the left post.[/p][p]Mallorca didn’t make a clear response in the immediacy, but it might have been a different story on the hour mark, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/darder-sergi/On7NYLWr/"]Sergi Darder[/a] found space to shoot inside the box, only to skew his shot badly off target.[/p][p]A slew of substitutions from the Mallorca bench had no real effect in turning the tide against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/levante/G8FL0ShI/"]Levante[/a], as the prospect of a 10th loss in 14 LaLiga road trips loomed.[/p][p]With the Pirates conceding 2+ goals in eight of the previous nine, one might have expected Levante to finish the job, but Espí was unable to do better than fire straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/roman-leonardo/pIgzAKRr/"]Leo Román[/a] when he tried his luck when in space on 75’.[/p][p][b]Levante’s fans were left frustrated as the tension mounted, and it finally boiled over in an unsavoury fashion, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brugue-roger/pWvRJqSt/"]Roger Brugué[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mojica-johan/drRlRNNC/"]Johan Mojica[/a] received their marching orders for an avoidable fracas, which saw the latter pull the former’s hair.[/b][/p][p][b]The hosts made the better response, and killed the game off when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arriaga-kervin/Q3Kg4RJd/"]Kervin Arriaga[/a] headed in a delightful corner from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olasagasti-jon/O8nKKpaP/"]Jon Ander Olasagasti[/a].[/b][/p][embed guid="343ee28b-bea3-4214-90ac-304e44444669" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2056088093392814086" social-type="twitter" /][p]Despite emerging victorious in this vital clash, they still have a tough task next Saturday, with even a draw at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/betis/vJbTeCGP/"]Betis[/a] potentially a risky thing to settle for.[/p][p]And while Mallorca will start the day second-bottom and needing to win, they do at least face the long-doomed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-oviedo/SzYzw34K/"]Oviedo[/a] at home, giving them more hope than most teams in their position.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arriaga-kervin/Q3Kg4RJd/"]Kervin Arriaga[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/levante/G8FL0ShI/"]Levante[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/levante-G8FL0ShI/mallorca-4jDQxrbf/summary/stats/?mid=K8ZA4Wel"]Check out all the match stats with Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]