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Espanyol 3-2 Mallorca: Substitue García denied Mallorca comeback

Kike García’s substitution paid off as Espanyol recovered a 3-2 victory over Mallorca, who were close to a miraculous comeback.

A first-half penalty and Pere Milla’s red card threatened Manolo González’s side as Vedat Muriqi scored twice to equalise for Mallorca.

His brace almost sealed a comeback from a two-goal deficit, but a late goal crushed the visitors’ dreams of victory.

Espanyol soar to third in LaLiga, as Mallorca remains in the relegation zone, on one point, following challenging opening fixtures against Barcelona, Celta de Vigo and Real Madrid.

As it happened

Espanyol are undefeated in LaLiga this season, beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 on the opening matchday, and defeating Osasuna 1-0 in their previous contest before the international break.

Manolo González brought in summer signing Urko González de Zárate and Roberto Fernández to the starting lineup to replace Edu Expósito and Kike García, respectively.

González signed for Espanyol in August from Real Sociedad for an approximate £4.3m fee. He was brought on as a substitute against Osasuna for Expósito and has already established himself in the starting eleven.

Jagoba Arrasate made one change to Mallorca, who lost 2-1 to Real Madrid last month. Toni Lato was benched, with Johan Mojica invited back into the side at full-back, after completing two 90-minute matches at the start of the season against Barcelona and Celta de Vigo.

After scoring at the Santiago Bernabéu, Vedat Muriqi started alongside Mateo Joseph. The Kosovan striker converted a 97th-minute winner penalty spot in Mallorca’s 2-1 victory against Espanyol in March.

With only minutes on the clock, Espanyol almost struck early, with Roberto Fernández’s shot deflected onto the crossbar.

Pere Milla’s goal secured Espanyol a critical advantage in the first half, after Carlos Romero’s cross was flicked past Mallorca goalkeeper Leo Román. Romero is currently on loan from Villarreal, as his goal against Osasuna ensured victory last time out in LaLiga.

Chances kept flowing for González’s side as Fernández doubled Espanyol’s lead. Román could not intercept Tyrhys Dolan’s cross from the right flank, which ultimately connected with the knee of the Spanish centre-forward and flew into the back of a neglected net.

Minutes before half-time, the tide swiftly shifted in favour of Mallorca, with Muriqi converting another penalty against Espanyol. Pol Lozano fouled Joseph in the box and drew a penalty decision from referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández.

It then went from bad to worse for González’s side as goalscorer Milla was shown a straight red card for dissent.

The first half finished 2-1, but avoidable mistakes denied Espanyol an opportunity to maintain their advantage against the visitors.

Marko Dmitrovic’s save denied Muriqi his second of the night a couple of minutes into the second half, as Espanyol’s standard sank.

The 31-year-old striker terrorised the hosts, and his 65th-minute header levelled the scoreline. Courtesy of a cross from Sergi Darder, the ball sailed past Dmitrovic, clipping the far post and trickled past the goal line.

He could have got his third in the 73rd minute, but Dmitrovic has worked overtime to ensure Espanyol could at least scrape a point in this game.

Mallorca shot themselves in the foot with under 15 minutes to go, with Antonio Raíllo conceding a penalty, fouling Tyrhys Dolan in the area.

Despite being excluded from the starting lineup, substitute García, who replaced goalscorer Fernández, converted from the penalty spot to deny Mallorca a miraculous recovery.

The hosts fended off the visitors to the final whistle, despite threatening opportunities from Muriqi. Both teams will face a Madrid side at the weekend, with Espanyol travelling to Real Madrid and Mallorca welcoming Atletico Madrid to the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix.