Zaragoza 1 - Mallorca 1

Zaragoza: Juanmi; Pablo, Lanna, Paco, Sundgren; Acuña, Garitano (Ferrón 79'); Juanele, Montenegro (Aragón 70'), Vellisca; Jamelli (Yordi 75'). 4-2-3-1.
Mallorca: Leo Franco; Olaizola, Fernando Niño, Nadal, Miguel Soler (Carreras 46'); Finidi, Engonga, Marcos, Ibagaza; Eto'o (Stankovic 50'), Luque (Carlos 71'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Zaragoza: Garitano for José Ignacio / Mallorca: Miguel Soler, Eto'o for Carreras, Stankovic.

Goals:
1-0. 04. Jamelli. Good team move ended with unselfish pass from Juanele.
1-1. 49. Luque. Held off Paco, turned and shot in off post from edge of area.

An extraordinary attack by Mallorca manager Luis Aragonés on his young striker Samuel Eto'o provided the talking point for this match. Aragonés had been critical of the Camerooni Olympic gold medal winner in the last few days, sending him out of a training session and leaving him on the bench for the last match as a penalty for not trying. With Stankovic still not 100% fit though he brought him back for this game, playing alongside Luque, a combination that has revitalised the Mallorca attack recently. After Jamelli had opened the scoring for Zaragoza, Eto'o missed a great opportunity to level the scores, shooting straight at Juanmi when clear of the local defence. Other than that though he didn't appear to be playing badly, but his manager had seen something he didn't like and pulled him off only five minutes into the second half. Eto'o sat on the bench gesturing, clearly upset about the change, and Aragonés went up to him and shook him physically with the television cameras looking on in amazement. After the game the manager said that he was close to nutting him he was so upset, and Eto'o commented to the press that he may not continue at the club.

Other than that the game was entertaining, with both teams setting off at a frenetic pace from the start, and Vellisca, Jamelli and Montenegro could have extended their lead before half time, with Finidi going close for the visitors. At half time Aragonés put on Carreras for Miguel Soler, not fully recovered from an earlier injury, and within two minutes Mallorca were back in the game, Luque surprising everyone creating a goal out of nothing with a shot from the edge of the area. After the substitution of Eto'o the visitors dominated the game, with Ibagaza hitting the crossbar and substitute Carlos bringing a good save out of Juanmi. Zaragoza were lacking their usual rhythm having gone two weeks without a game, and they were relieved when the final whistle eventually went.

They remain in the lower reaches of the table in sixteenth place, albeit with a game in hand (away against Real Madrid though). Mallorca's point keeps them for the time being in the UEFA spots, dropping a place down to sixth. The Eto'o situation is a time bomb waiting to go off, but Aragonés has the experience to defuse the situation this week and put things back on track. Eto'o was voted second best African player of the year recently, and is too good to lose at this stage of the season.