Amadeu Garcia
Updated Wednesday, January 24, 2024-21:42
Mallorca
erased
Girona 's smile with a
stroke
of the pen.
A spectacular first half was enough for
the team led by
Javier Aguirre , with
Larin
as the first scorer and
Abdón
signing a scoring double, to end the
Cup
dream of
Míchel
's team , who perhaps paid dearly for their intention to compete without losing from the League's point of view.
The expulsion of
Raíllo
after a penalty that
Stuani
would transform into 3-1 in the second half, forced the locals to grit their teeth and fight in defense.
But his effort, despite the 3-2 score scored by
Savinho
in added time, earned them a return to the Cup semi-finals 15 years after their last presence.
The Mallorcan team left the tie to be decided in a first half in which they overcame Girona, leader of the First Division.
His start, signing a clear goal action even before the first minute was up, was a clear example of what was going to be the tone of the first
45 minutes
.
It was of no use to the Girona team to try to fight back just a few moments later.
The one who was in their almost always implacable shoes was on this occasion the island team.
Cyle Larin
gave the first blow of the afternoon, taking advantage of a good run on the wing by
Dani Rodríguez
to make the score 1-0 a few moments after the clock marked the first 20 minutes of the match.
The Girona response, born in Savinho's boots five minutes later, was answered by a great save from
Greif
that, in the end, would be the prelude to 2-0.
Abdón Prats
, after passing through the balcony of the area, took a
tremendous left-footed shot
out of his hat that made
Juan Carlos
's effort to try to save him useless.
Abdón himself, when the first half was approaching its final stretch, made it 3-0 by converting a penalty due to Antal's handball punished only after the intervention of the VAR.
Míchel looked for a boost by bringing on
Dovbyk
and
Yan Couto
, starting substitutes.
The first visitor to test Greif after the restart, however, would be
Aleix García
.
It was the first warning of the trickle of arrivals that a Girona team would sign that, despite their efforts, had not yet found a way to really worry Mallorca's always orderly defense.
For Aguirre's team, in fact, it was enough and more than enough for them to
defend the loot
they had achieved in their dazzling first 45 minutes.
The duel, however, would turn around with Raíllo's penalty on
Stuani.
The center back saw two consecutive yellow cards and the Uruguayan scored 3-1.
With superiority, and urged by the urgency, Míchel's men redoubled their harassment of Grief's area, but they crashed again and again against a completely Numantine defense that, in the end, only Savinho could break to score an insufficient 3-2 .