Muriqi strikes late as Mallorca stun Real Madrid
Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi netted a late goal to secure his team a surprise win over Real Madrid on Saturday (JAIME REINA) Vedat Muriqi snatched Mallorca a surprise 2-1 La Liga win over Real Madrid on Saturday to deal Los Blancos a significant blow in the Spanish title race. Alvaro Arbeloa's side thought they had rescued a point after Eder Militao nodded home with two minutes remaining before Muriqi pounced in stoppage time to help the hosts climb to 17th. The defeat leaves second-place Real Madrid four points behind leaders Barcelona, who visit Atletico Madrid later on Saturday.
"For me it is easy to see but the hard thing is for the players to know that without giving 200 percent today, we were not going to win," Arbeloa told reporters. "We were on top in the first half but because of one mistake, they scored. Here if you slip up for a moment...
you end up paying the price. "This is the elite, the top flight... not having a better second half than we did is what hurts me the most.
" Arbeloa started the game with Vinicius Junior on the bench, with Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in mind. Madrid lacked spark in the first half, creating few openings of note. The best was for top scorer Kylian Mbappe, fit after a knee sprain that has troubled him for months.
Arda Guler rolled a ball in behind Mallorca's defence for the French superstar to dart on to but Leo Roman saved with his leg. The goalkeeper denied Mbappe again after Eduardo Camavinga fed him and Antonio Rudiger also nodded over from a corner. Manu Morlanes threatened for Mallorca, heading just over, but Madrid did not heed the warning.