Barcelona’s Winning Streak Ends with 2-2 Draw at Mallorca in Spanish League

 Mallorca's players react at the end of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP)
Mallorca's players react at the end of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP)
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Barcelona’s Winning Streak Ends with 2-2 Draw at Mallorca in Spanish League

 Mallorca's players react at the end of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP)
Mallorca's players react at the end of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Barcelona at the Son Moix stadium in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (AP)

Barcelona’s five-game winning streak in the Spanish league ended with a 2-2 draw at Mallorca on Tuesday.

Barcelona twice came from behind to salvage the point. It had won five in a row after opening with a draw at Getafe. It also won in its Champions League debut against Antwerp last Tuesday.

The result left the Catalan club in danger of relinquishing the lead when the remaining midweek games are played. It leads Girona by one point and Real Madrid by two points. Girona visits Villarreal on Wednesday, while Madrid hosts promoted Las Palmas.

“We conceded two goals after defensive mistakes and we can’t allow that to happen,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. “It’s a shame, we lost two points because of these mistakes.”

Mallorca, which squandered a few good chances on counterattacks, has just one win so far and is sitting near the relegation zone with six points.

“It was a fair result, we are satisfied,” Mallorca’s Mexican coach Javier Aguirre said. “A victory would have been too much for us today.”

Mallorca was coming off a 5-3 loss at Girona.

The hosts opened the scoring through Vedat Muriqi in the eighth minute before Raphinha equalized in the 41st. Abdon Prats put Mallorca ahead again just before halftime, and Fermin López sealed the draw in the 75th with what was his first league goal for the Catalan club.

Barcelona had a penalty kick awarded in the 66th, but the decision was reversed by video review.

Sevilla wins again

Sevilla scored twice in the first 10 minutes and went on to rout Almeria 5-1 for its second league win of the season.

Youssef En-Nesyri scored in the seventh minute and Dodi Lukebakio in the eighth, then Suso added another in the 38th before Erik Lamela and Kike Salas closed the scoring in the second half.

It was the fifth loss for Almeria, which remains the only team yet to win a match.

Almeria next hosts Granada, while Sevilla visits Barcelona.



Bagnaia Wins Japanese Grand Prix Sprint after Leader Acosta Crashes

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Bagnaia Wins Japanese Grand Prix Sprint after Leader Acosta Crashes

Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia of Italy (R) leads his teammate Enea Bastianini of Italy (L) during Tissot Sprint of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix at the Mobility Resort Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi prefecture on October 5, 2024. (AFP)

Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Japanese Grand Prix sprint on Saturday after leader Pedro Acosta crashed out with four laps to go, reducing his gap with championship leader Jorge Martin, who finished fourth, to 15 points.

Rookie Acosta, who took pole earlier in the day, had overtaken Bagnaia on the third lap to take the lead, but lost control near turn seven, losing the opportunity to win his first MotoGP sprint.

Ducati's Bagnaia, who moved to 357 points ahead of Sunday's race, fought off second-placed Enea Bastianini by 0.181 seconds amid occasional rains in Motegi to win his 16th sprint of the season.

"We had to sacrifice a bit of performance during the race to understand the conditions better... I'm very happy because with this condition it's not very easy to win," Bagnaia said in his post-sprint interview.

Pramac Racing's Martin, who started from the 11th position on the grid after crashing during the qualifying session, started well to take the fifth position in the first lap, facing pressure from Marc Marquez, who eventually overtook him.

Marquez momentarily took second place from Bastianini but the Ducati rider recovered to leave him third.

LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami crashed out of his home grand prix sprint after a collision with teammate Johann Zarco, while Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder, sixth in the championship, quit due to an issue with his bike.

"We´re investigating what happened to cause Brad Binder's sprint to come to a premature end," the team wrote on X. "For now, all we can do is apologize to Brad."