Taking a risk in a match was already too high a risk. Cádiz CF only needed a victory against Mallorca at home. Draw or lose was almost the same and the X (1-1) condemns the team to the Second Division except for a miracle that few can expect. It was now or never and it was never.
The yellow team let the last train escape. Math says he’s still alive, but the reality is that it does not give more of itself, it is a team so limited that it is not enough to continue in the elite. This is what he is demonstrating every week. If you don’t win the game you were supposed to win, turn it off and let’s go. He did what he has been doing all season and his relegation is an increasingly closer reality. Five points behind Celta (17th, which is actually six with the ‘goal average’ unfavorable.
Mauricio Pellegrino dared to change his drawing on a key day. He opted for three centre-backs and two wingers who acted almost as wingers, which made Robert Navarro insert himself as a third midfielder and three-quarterback.
From the opening whistle, a double duel was fought, physical and tactical, with the team most in need dominating. The predictable. Shortly after the start, in the 6th minute, Conan Ledesma gave the scare when he threw himself to the ground with pain in his thigh which, however, did not prevent him from continuing after receiving medical attention.
The ball belonged to the yellows. It was played almost all the time on the Palma plot against a rival who was clear that a draw was enough, which meant the death of Cádiz CF.
It didn’t take long for the script to explode. In the 11th minute, in the first serious approach of the vermillions, Juanmi did not defend the rise with the ball from Nastasic, who put a cross into the heart of the area for Muriqi to anticipate and connect with a header that made it 0-1. Three centrals for this.
The striker had played nine games and two and a half months unmarked until he found a buttery defense that allowed him to finish at will.
The goal left the fans frozen and was a blow to the the waterline of a yellow ship destabilized. The local team was obliged to work the miracle of a comeback, something it had only achieved once on matchday four (September 1, 2023) when it overcame a 0-1 deficit to beat a Villarreal team with ten players 3-1.
Cádiz CF tried to react but crashed against the Mallorcan wall and against its own limitations. A weak long shot by Rubén Alcaraz in the 17th minute, with the leather in the hands of the goalkeeper, it was the only response from a team with few resources beyond hanging the ball in the area again and again.
Giovanni González replied in the 19th with a shot from inside the area that escaped very close to the crossbar. Mallorca began to play with time and the result and nerves emerged in the stands and on the green. The worst that could happen.
With no one to take command, the yellows They fell in haste as the referee overlooked a possible penalty for knocking down Robert Navarro inside the area when he was trying to finish. It didn’t seem like the maximum penalty. Protests, more nerves and a disorderly game that led nowhere.
The locals lowered their arms in the final stretch of the first half. They were absolutely knocked out. They didn’t work as a team, they barely associated. In front, a Mallorca very comfortable in his role without giving up the counterattack.
In extra time came the only clear chance of the first act with a Chilean goal by Chris Ramos that was more spectacular than effective. Rajkovic stopped the ball without difficulty just before the intermission that arrived amidst loud whistles from a desperate fan who saw how their team was marching relentlessly towards the silver category.
The locals began the second half with two changes to the eleven: Javi Hernández by Lucas Pires and Sergio Guardiola for Ousou. A 4-4-2 with which to go all out. It was life or death in 45 minutes.
Pellegrino took a risk with the bet on Guardiola, a player with a poor performance throughout the season who, however, contributed a plus with his outing on grass. With him there was some judgment in the game. There was improvement. The question was whether it was enough.
There was no other option but to attack without respite in search of a feat The Edge of the impossible. The lowest scorer in the championship had to score at least two goals. With Mallorca locked around their area, Cádiz tried to level up, to move the ball from one side to the other to end up doing the same. air centers. In one of them, in the 59th minute, Mascarell scored an own goal with a header when Chris Ramos was fighting for the shot.
The 1-1 score revitalized a team that, with half an hour left, believed in the possibility of victory. He tried with more heart than head. In the 61st minute, Sergi Guardiola was a few centimeters away from the goal with a shot from the front that missed very close to a post.
The nerves did not disappear. On the contrary. In the 66th minute, a lack of understanding between Fali and Ledesma came close to costing 1-2. The goalkeeper came out, Fali cleared a header back and when Antonio Sánchez was going to score into an empty goal, Víctor Chust appeared to clear it.
The home team insisted until exhaustion. In the 75th minute, Chris Ramos headed high after a corner kick. Time was beginning to run out and when that happens in a hurry, The card that the coach usually draws is that of Darwin Machís in desperate search of his cannon shots. The Venezuelan and Roger Martí were the last movements from the bench with Cádiz CF with the noose around their necks. The tie was not enough.
Cádiz CF was closer to defeat than victory. In the 86th minute, Sergi Darder, alone in front of Ledesma, sent the ball to the post with everything in his favor. He spared the host team, who rushed the final minutes with the aim of scoring a goal with little more than push.
With a tie that seemed immovable, Roger Martí missed a clear chance in the extension with a shot outside with the goalkeeper outside the goal.
Datasheet
Cadiz CF: Ledesma, Iza Carcelén, Fali, Ousou (Sergi Guardiola, 46′), Víctor Chust, Lucas Pires (Javi Hernández, 46′), Rubén Alcaraz, Álex Fernández, Robert Navarro (Machís, 78′), Juanmi (Maxi Gómez, 65 ‘) and Chris Ramos (Roger Martí, 80’).
Mallorca: Rajkovic, G. Gonzalez, Nastasic, Raillo, Valjent, Maffeo (Lato, 83′), Samu Costa (Darder, 70′), Mascarell, Dani Rodriguez (Morlanes, 70′), Radonjic (Antonio Sanchez, 57′) and Muriqi (Abdon Prats 83′)
Goals: 0-1 (11′) Muriqi. 1-1 (59′) Mascarell, own goal.
Referee: Díaz de Mera Escuderos (Castilian-La Mancha). He admonished the locals Lucas Pires (31′), Chris Ramos (41′) and Fali (72′), and the visitors Dani Rodríguez (45′ + 1) and Mascarell (53′).
Incidences: Match of the 33rd day played at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium.
