Joseph’s Double and Mallorca’s Revival: Sevilla Stunned as Basement Dwellers Upset the Hierarchy at the Sánchez Pizjuán
There are moments in football that defy the logic of league tables, when the weight of recent form and expectation is swept aside by a single afternoon’s drama. On Saturday at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, bottom-placed Mallorca delivered one of those jolts to La Liga’s autumn narrative, overturning Sevilla 3-1 and leaving the local faithful voicing their disbelief as the visitors authored their best result of the season.
From the opening whistle, Sevilla appeared determined to show that their ascent into the top third of the table was no accident. Their current run—marked by authoritative wins, notably that emphatic 4-1 demolition of Barcelona just two weeks ago—had instilled a sense of momentum. By the 16th minute, the script seemed set. Ruben Vargas, with a deft touch that sliced through the Mallorca backline, fired the hosts ahead, sending the Sánchez Pizjuán crowd into raucous celebration.
But in football, dominance can be a fragile thing. Sevilla’s early control began to fray as the half wore on; what started as purposeful possession slipped into nervy hesitation. The turning point had less to do with tactics and more with a shift in belief—Mallorca, battered in previous weeks and adrift at the foot of the standings, sensed vulnerability.
The second half unfolded with escalating tension. Sevilla, perhaps remembering their stumble against Villarreal last month, grew wary of the one-goal margin. The anxiety was justified. In the 67th minute, Vedat Muriqi caught the hosts flat-footed and lashed home the equalizer, giving Mallorca a lifeline and Marsch’s men a surge of hope that rippled through their traveling support.
Five minutes later, the game tipped irreversibly. Mateo Joseph, the 19-year-old forward, showed the composure of a veteran. Picking up the ball near the edge of the box, he fashioned space where none existed, curling a shot beyond Sevilla keeper Marko Dmitrović and silencing the home stands. It was a goal born of anticipation and raw instinct, and for a side that had managed just one win in eight outings, the moment offered a glimpse at the promise beneath Mallorca’s battered record.
The drama had scarcely peaked. As Sevilla pressed desperately for a way back, Joseph struck again in the 77th minute—his second goal in five minutes. While the first was calculated, the second was opportunistic: a scramble inside the six-yard box and Joseph, quickest to react, stabbed the ball home to seal an improbable brace. For the visitors, whose last five outings had yielded only five goals and left them stranded at the base of the table, Joseph’s emergence was nothing short of transformational.
For Sevilla, the afternoon became an unwelcome reckoning. Their surge up the standings—built on the chemistry of Alexis Sánchez and Isaac Romero, the reliable finishing of Akor Adams—faltered as Mallorca’s confidence swelled. Questions now loom: was the recent run, punctuated by victory at Rayo Vallecano and that Barcelona rout, a brief fever, or the sign of a team capable of weathering setbacks? Dropping points at home against the league’s stragglers is a warning that will not be lost on manager Quique Sánchez Flores, whose side now sits at seventh, a mere four points clear of 12th, and with all the volatility of La Liga’s mid-table pack nipping at their heels.
Meanwhile, the impact for Mallorca is more existential. This was not just a victory—it was a statement, a rallying point for a squad whose only prior win came at home to Alaves and whose recent form reads as a catalogue of missed chances. With just five points from eight games before today, and the memory of a hard-fought draw with Atletico Madrid fading, the performance at the Sánchez Pizjuán resets the calculus in the battle for survival. Joseph’s double marks him as a growing threat, Muriqi’s reliability up front as a lifeline, and manager Javier Aguirre as a leader capable of extracting fight from adversity.
Recent head-to-heads have favored Sevilla, whose pedigree in European and domestic competition has often left Mallorca chasing shadows, but history offered little comfort once the game transcended expectation. There were no red cards to color the contest—just the raw urgency of a team desperate for points finally finding its voice.
In the wake of today’s shock, Mallorca will look ahead with renewed purpose, knowing the climb out of relegation remains daunting but no longer impossible. For Sevilla, the path forward is less certain, each match now a test of whether momentum can be restored or whether the early-season promise will dissipate under pressure.
As autumn settles over Andalusia, La Liga’s script is once again rewritten, and the bottom of the table grows a little less predictable.