With no win in three months, Girona were free-falling their way towards relegation and in urgent need of a parachute, and the early signs at the Montilivi suggested that the ripcord had been found.
In need of a hero, the home side knew they could rely on Cristhian Stuani, and the club’s all-time LaLiga goalscorer fired his side into the lead after just 10 minutes.
A long ball down Girona’s left wing caused confusion in a tardy Mallorca defence and, despite blocking the first shot from Ivan Martin, Los Piratas were made to pay when Stuani picked up the loose ball and hammered home from eight yards.
The Blanquivermells were in the ascendancy, as Portu forced an acrobatic stop from Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif.
Despite offering little going forward, Mallorca almost grabbed an unlikely equaliser but were thwarted by an excellent save from Paulo Gazzaniga. There seemed little danger when Sergi Darder set his sights on goal from 25 yards out, but his shot was dipping and swerving towards the top corner, until Gazzaniga’s strong wrist somehow managed to tip it wide for a corner.
Late in the first half and the hosts’ had their own promising moment from distance, as a cute flick from Portu allowed Yangel Herrera to spin into space, but his shot curled just wide of Greif’s left-hand post.
The break did nothing to dilute either Girona’s dominance or Herera’s eye for goal. The Venezuelan midfielder once again found space on the edge of the box and this time hit the target, only for Greif to replicate Gazzaniga’s heroics at the other end, as the Slovakian produced a world-class save to keep his team in the game.
Grief was fast becoming the hero of a fruitless night for the visitors, as he produced more fine saves to deny Viktor Tsyhankov and Portu.
Despite a late flurry, the men from the island lacked the quality required to nab themselves a point, leaving them level on points with both Osasuna and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid in the race for European football next season.
Although they too once harboured dreams of another European adventure next season, the home fans were left to revel in the relief of taking a giant step towards survival and ending a rotten run of results.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominik Greif (Mallorca)