A flat beginning to the game meant that there was little in the way of atmosphere at Camp Nou, until Jules Koundé was undone by Jan Virgili before the Frenchman got out of jail thanks to Eric García.
The visitors were certainly up for the fight, and Vedat Muriqi was only inches away from giving Mallorca a shock lead, as Barça’s defence went walkabout. Virgili then had a shot on target just after the 20-minute mark, as the support began to make their feelings known.
By contrast, Robert Lewandowski had barely touched the ball, and when Barça did have a breakaway, the visiting defence were still able to get back with relative ease.
Marcus Rashford came closest to opening the scoring for the Blaugranes as his venomous shot just whistled the wrong side of the post, before Lewandowski’s quick thinking in the box two minutes later earned him some space to fire home.
Right on half time, Rashford’s free-kick was brilliantly saved, and Lamine Yamal missed a completely open goal when the ball got played back in.
Barça should’ve had a penalty just after the break after Lamine was felled, and then David López’s deflection took Marc Casadó’s goalbound effort onto the woodwork - the 23rd time the Catalans have hit the frame of the goal this season.
Two quickfire saves from Leo Román denied Dani Olmo and Fermín López as Barça began to turn the screw, and then right on the hour, Lamine took aim from outside the box and buried the ball into the bottom corner for the second goal.
The onslaught continued, and Mallorca’s more withdrawn play with 15 minutes left suggested they had already accepted defeat by then. That was confirmed when a sensational run and finish from Marc Bernal ended the game as a contest.
The result means that Barça have now won all 33 points available to them from their 11 home fixtures in La Liga, whilst Mallorca’s wait for an away win has now stretched to seven games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Rashford (Barcelona)
