Mallorca eliminates La Liga leader Girona from the Copa del Rey
Girona, the La Liga leaders, was devastated to lose 3-2 in a thrilling fashion to Real Mallorca in the quarterfinal of the Copa Del Rey on Wednesday.
After falling behind 3-0 against their formidable opponents in just 40 minutes, Michel’s team was unable to rally, even though they had the better of the possession.
Cyle Larin, a striker for Mallorca, opened the score in the 21st minute after Dani Rodriguez set him up for a close finish. Seven minutes later, Abdon Prats’ thundering 25-yard strike left Girona goalie Juan Carlos groping at thin air, more than doubling the hosts’ lead.
when a furious first half, Prats’ second goal came from a penalty shot when Antal Yaakobishvili was found to have handled the ball inside the box.
After Antonio Raillo’s foul, Stuani’s penalty kick gave Girona hope for a comeback in the second half, but his second yellow card proved costly.
Deep into additional time, Savio then set up a tight finish by cutting the deficit to just one goal, but Girona’s last-ditch effort was eventually unsuccessful in forcing an equalizer.
In stoppage time of the second half extra time, Nico scored a spectacular goal to cap off the counterattack, adding insult to injury for Barca and sealing the victory.
After the game, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez stated, “I feel disappointed because a trophy has gone, and in that way too, losing in extra time.”
“The location proved to be quite challenging since Athletic is the league’s most physically demanding team,” Xavi acknowledged.
We’ve given it everything we’ve got. The fact that we participated makes us proud.
We cannot disregard the fact that we engaged in combat with inexperienced players; it just did not work out.
This is the beginning of a great generation; therefore, Barça has a future,” he continued.
After Cyle Larin’s initial goal, Abdon Prats scored twice to lead Mallorca to their first semifinal since 2009, holding off Girona for almost half of the second half while playing with ten men.
Girona rallied after falling behind 0-3 in the first half, thanks to goals from Savinho and Cristhian Stuani following the dismissal of Mallorca’s Antonio Raillo.
Leave a Reply