Dogged Mallorca beat Real Madrid after early own goal

Real Madrid's Aurelie Tchouameni, right, in action against Mallorca's Lee Kang-in during a La Liga match in Mallorca, Spain on Sunday. [EPA/YONHAP]

Mallorca capitalized on an early mistake to beat Real Madrid 1-0 on Sunday, holding on to the slim lead from the 13th minute in a very physical game.

Mallorca put it all on the line at home holding off the dominant Madrid side despite the visitors controlling over 70 percent of the ball and hammering 20 shots in the vague direction of the Mallorca goal, although just one was on target.

The sole goal came in the 13th minute after a Vedat Muriqi header rebounded off Nacho and into the back of his own net. That mistake cost Madrid the game, although there was plenty of action of the more physical kind to keep fans entertained for the remaining 77 minutes.

Ten yellow cards were handed out, five to each team, over the game that saw a total of 43 tackles recorded. Mallorca, undoubtedly knowing that their best chance of stopping the visitors was not necessarily going to be by getting the ball, focused an all-out offensive on the Madrid attacking line — Vinícius Júnior alone was fouled 10 times, the most of any game in his entire career.

The aggressive approach was a risky one but it paid off, with Marco Asensio even missing a penalty that would have tied things up.

Midfielder Lee Kang-in played 78 minutes in the fiery clash, providing the usual speed and fancy footwork, but with a little less vision than is normally seen from the young Korean star.

But regardless of how Mallorca got there, a win is a win and Sunday’s victory will be a historic one in the La Liga, at least for this season. The Balearic side now have a week’s rest before they take on Sevilla next Saturday on the road at Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, Spain.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]