With the two sides locked on 39 points this was always going to be packed with nerves, and with defences on top, neither goalkeeper was forced into a save before the half-hour mark.
That said, Carlos Espí had shown flashes of potential during the early minutes, and he eventually gave the hosts a precious lead with their very first shot on target, when firing in from the edge of the box after managing to capitalise on some poor Mallorca defending.
Mallorca were shellshocked, but almost responded instantly, as Zito Luvumbo attempted to head in a lofted cross when outjumping everyone else. He got a clean connection, but Mathew Ryan denied him a leveller with brilliant reflexes.
That was as close as the Pirates came to equalising before the break, and with other scores going against them, they were sat 19th at the break – three points off safety.
The second half began in the same nervy fashion of the first, though Iván Romero was left frustrated when seeing a shot go just wide of the left post.
Mallorca didn’t make a clear response in the immediacy, but it might have been a different story on the hour mark, when Sergi Darder found space to shoot inside the box, only to skew his shot badly off target.
A slew of substitutions from the Mallorca bench had no real effect in turning the tide against Levante, as the prospect of a 10th loss in 14 LaLiga road trips loomed.
With the Pirates conceding 2+ goals in eight of the previous nine, one might have expected Levante to finish the job, but Espí was unable to do better than fire straight at Leo Román when he tried his luck when in space on 75’.
Levante’s fans were left frustrated as the tension mounted, and it finally boiled over in an unsavoury fashion, when Roger Brugué and Johan Mojica received their marching orders for an avoidable fracas, which saw the latter pull the former’s hair.
The hosts made the better response, and killed the game off when Kervin Arriaga headed in a delightful corner from Jon Ander Olasagasti.
Despite emerging victorious in this vital clash, they still have a tough task next Saturday, with even a draw at Betis potentially a risky thing to settle for.
And while Mallorca will start the day second-bottom and needing to win, they do at least face the long-doomed Oviedo at home, giving them more hope than most teams in their position.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kervin Arriaga (Levante)