Valencia and Mallorca grit teeth before winter break short on gifts | OneFootball

Valencia 1-1 RCD Mallorca

Neither Jagoba Arrasate nor Carlos Corberan will have been expecting an especially comfortable Christmas break, with both RCD Mallorca and Valencia attending Mestalla on Friday night level one point above the drop and level on points with Girona. After a battle between their sides, neither will go into the weekend with the solace of a victory.

A game much as expected, with both sides looking to impose themselves physically, and outwit the opposition to win tactical fouls. With Mallorca drawing first blood though, that type of match very much suited Los Bermellones after 23 minutes. A set-piece to the far post was knocked back towards the penalty spot, where Samu Costa arrived and struck the ball on the volley low into the corner, and beyond Julen Agirrezabala.

In theory that altered the terms of the game, but in essence, Mallorca were content to be compact without the ball, and cede it to Valencia in hope they would leave spaces at the back. The first half finished with Valencia having more pressure, but struggling to work Leo Roman, with Andre Almeida seeing his free-kick deflected narrowly wide.

Valencia crank up the pressure in the second half

Image via Valencia CF

While Mallorca were complicit with their approach, Corberan’s side showed a hunger for the equaliser in a second period played largely in the Mallorca half. Eventually it came in the form of Hugo Duro. A ball from right-back Thierry Correia clipped across goal was bundled in by the forward, fighting through the challenge of Pablo Maffeo to get something on it.

Shortly after, substitute Arnaut Danjuma played the ball across twice from the left, and Lucas Beltran made a little too much contact with his header the first time round, seeing his effort loop over. With 15 minutes to go, Mateo Joseph was defended a little too passively, and cutting in, he whistled a shot past the top corner.

The final stages saw plenty of energy expended, but was short on quality as Valencia sought the winner. Arrasate’s outfit looked content to grind out a point, avoiding any dampener’s to their holiday spirit. They have two points more breathing room than Valencia, and three more than Girona in 18th, which given their early struggles, may well be seen as a positive by Arrasate.

Los Che will believe that they were the more dominant side, but the fans exiting the stadium will be aware that the two shots on target from their 18 efforts prevent them from claiming they deserved much more.