Betis 1 - Mallorca 0

Betis: Prats; Varela, Filipescu, Rivas, Luis Fernández; Ito, Benjamín (Cañas 70'); Joaquín (Belenguer 80'), Capi, Denilson; Joao Tomás (Amato 85'). 4-2-3-1.
Mallorca: Leo Franco; Campano, Olaizola, Siviero (Fernando Niño 30'), Nadal, Miguel Soler; Novo (Carlos 67'), Engonga (Paco Soler 75'), Marcos; Eto'o, Luque. 5-3-2.

Team changes: Betis: Varela, Joao Tomas for Cañas, Amato / Mallorca: Siviero, Engonga for Vicente, Paunovic.

Goals:
1-0. 45. Joao Tomás (penalty). After Fernando Niño ruled to have handled in area.

Betis moved up to second, just behind Real Madrid on goal average, after beating Mallorca 1-0. The Sevilla based side have the best home record in the league having only let in three goals all season at the Ruíz de Lopera stadium, and once again Prats kept a clean sheet to keep him top of the Zamora chart. The Spanish keeper has been instrumental in his club's six match unbeaten run, and he made important saves in the second half from Luque and from Engonga, who returned to the Mallorca side for the first time in several weeks after suffering muscular problems. Sergio Kresic's injury problems continued in the Balearic Island side, and although Luque passed a late fitness test, Paunovic dropped out at the last minute and the unfortunate Vicente's replacement Siviero was also replaced with half an hour gone.

That brought on Fernando Niño, and the Spanish defender played a central part in the only goal when he was adjudged by the now infamous linesman Rafa Guerrero to have handled deliberately in the area on the stroke of half time when Joaquín tried to lift the ball past him. It certainly looked accidental, with the player turning his back as the ball hit him on the arm at point blank range, and the Mallorca players surrounded Iturralde González after he awarded a penalty kick. However the referee remained steadfast, and Joao Tomás, himself returning to the side after injury, tucked away the penalty to give Betis the lead. The referee did make up for it in the second half when he turned down a more obvious penalty appeal for a foul on Denilson, and the Brazilian winger almost put the Andalucians further in front when he hit the bar later on. Luque missed the visitors' best chance of equalising when he overran the ball, but this was not their day and Mallorca drop back down to sixteenth, within a point of the drop zone.