Espanyol succumbs in the fort of Rayo Vallecano

The Madrid team, which faced the match as the best venue in the category, came out on the pitch ready to forget the bad drink lived in the Copa del Rey, in which he had to reach penalties to overcome Guijuelo, a lower-category rival, and for this he became the owner of the ball from the opening whistle.

To the Spanish It was difficult for him to find the rhythm set by the Rayo, but when he began to feel comfortable his performance improved, as when at 24 minutes Raúl de Tomás put Stole Dimitrievski to the test with a header inside the area that the Macedonian stopped with a great stretch.

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To the Lightning, despite its dominance, what cost him was to generate dangerous occasions on the goal of the Spanish. In fact, the best came after the halfway point of the first half with a cross by Álvaro García from the left that was finished off by Argentine Oscar Trejo inside the area over the crossbar.

Before the break, in the extension time of the first half, Isi Palazón picked up a ball with his chest at the far post after a cross from the left, got away from his marker and with his right leg launched a shot that went through the area and brushed away a post.

In the second part, Alvaro Garcia, that in the first one he was one of the protagonists when the Lightning overturned all his attack on the left side, he starred in a good action that ended with a center that Uruguayan Leandro Cabrera deflected to goal.

That goal did justice to the merits that the Lightning, which was the team that most eagerly sought the goal due to the lack of offensive resources that Espanyol demonstrated, which relied all its attacks on the imagination that Raúl de Tomás might have, too alone in some moments.

In search of an improvement that would allow him to equalize the contest, Vicente Moreno gave entrance to Morlanes and Melamed, and with both the Catalan team improved to the point that in the last fifteen minutes Espanyol ended up besieging Rayo and had three clear chances to score, all in the boots of Javi Puado.

Of that improvement of Espanyol he was an eyewitness Radamel Falcao, who reappeared after a month injured but barely participated in his team’s game, which celebrated a new triumph in Vallecas, where he remains undefeated.

Data sheet:

1 – Rayo Vallecano: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Catena, Saveljich, Fran García; Isi, Valentín, Unai López (Pathé Ciss, m.66), Álvaro García (Nteka, m.88); Trejo (Kevin Rodrigues, m.88); and Sergi Guardiola (Falcao, m.74).

0 – Espanyol: Diego López; Aleix Vidal, Sergi Gómez (Calero, m.61), Cabrera, Pedrosa; Bare (Loren, m.61), Yangel Herrera, Darder (Nico Melamed, m.74); Embarba (Morlanes, m.74), Puado and Raúl de Tomás.

Goal: 1-0: M.54 Cabrera, own goal.

Referee: José Luis Munuera Montero (Andalusian Committee). He admonished Trejo (m.39), Nteka (90) and Valentín (92), from Rayo; and Puado (m.9), Aleix Vidal (39) and Cabrera (90), from Espanyol. He sent off with a direct red to Fran Mérida (92), Espanyol player who was on the bench.

Incidents: match corresponding to matchday 16 of LaLiga Santander played at the Vallecas Stadium before 10,000 spectators. Full.