Real Zaragoza 2 – RCD Espanyol 1: Cruel defeat in added time.

Espanyol played well, tried their best, even managed to draw level, but eventually were defeated in added time.

Espanyol left La Romareda with one of the most painful defeats that anybody could imagine. It was in added time, nearly at the final whistle and when our team was trying to pull together against an injured rival because of the missed penalty shot by Luis García earlier on. The match had goals and uncertainty till the end.

Espanyol and Zaragoza proved that, apart from the top teams, the rest of them will compete to survive at the end. Both teams started the match with some homework to do. Zaragoza, after the severe 0-6 defeat against Real Madrid in their first league match, and their draw with Rayo the week before, they wanted to improve. And our team, after the good display against Athletic Club de Bilbao, tried to obtain our first away victory since January.

In any case, this match had nothing to do with the friendly they played a month ago. Not only for the new faces in both sides, but also for their trajectory before this match.

The match started with a frantic rhythm as both teams tried their hardest, firstly to control the match and secondly to score as early as possible. It was somewhat shocking to see how Luis García, who played for us until the last day of August, was covering all the attacks by Didac and also telling his team-mates where to place themselves when Espanyol had a free kick.

Both Micael and Sergio García performed acrobatic shots, but the match itself was more and more muddled as the minutes passed by. The bad news for Espanyol arrived when Joan Verdú, after clashing with a rival player, had to be replaced by Romaric. Shortly afterwards, Zaragoza scored by means of a Luis García header after a pass from Lafita. Cristian, despite his long jump dive, could not save the goal.

From then after, Zaragoza converted into a duty decalogue, everything they planned. Their defense stayed put behind running after Alvaro and Thievy wherever they moved and in the second half, same system for Pandiani and Weiss. The way in which their lines were close to each other, was obvious together with their will to keep the advantage in the scoreboard. The match took place in a populated area of no more than 50 metres which went up and down subject to where the ball was at any particular moment. Being the match split in two, the first half finished with an excellent pass from Sergio García to Javi Márquez but the Catalan midfielder shot off goal.

In the second half Pochettino brought the remainder of his artillery with Weiss and Pandiani, and that’s when Espanyol showed their best version. The match was still alive especially when Espanyol drew the scoreboard after a triple chance by Sergio García and Javi López being the latter to eventually score. The blue and white team was in command, controlled the timing reaching the local goal more and more all the time with clear danger. Weiss who played for us for the first time, left a good impression especially with a free kick which was saved by Roberto with difficulties. But both teams were not pleased with the draw and the two of them clearly went for the match. Lafita fell on our box, the referee pointed to the penalty spot and showed Javi López his second yellow card which implied he had to leave the pitch with a red card. It was a questionable and rigorous decision as it did not seem penalty at all. Luis García shot the penalty and Cristian saved the ball with his body.

But just in the very last minute, once more it was Luis García, who after a rebound in our penalty area, scored again. There was no time left for anything else. It was his redemption and we could only regret a painful and cruel defeat.

Game stats:

Real Zaragoza: Roberto, Juárez, Paredes, Mateos, F.Meira (Abraham, min.78), H.Postiga (Braulio, min.80), Luis García, Da Silva, Lafita, Micael and Ponzio (Barrera, min.59).

RCD Espanyol: C.Álvarez, J.López, Forlín, H.Moreno, Dídac, Raúl Baena, J.Márquez (Weiss, min.46), Sergio Gracía, J.Verdú (Romaric, min.24), Thievy and Álvaro (W.Pandiani, min.46).

Referee: José L. Paradas Romero. Yellow card: Romaric (min.32), J.Márquez (min.45), Weiss (min.66), Javi López (min.74 y min.85), Héctor Moreno (min.83) / Postiga (min.40), Mateos (min.82).

Goals: 1-0, Luis García (min.28); 1-1, Javi López (min.71); 2-1: Luis García (90+3).

RCD Mallorca 0 – RCD Espanyol 1

Luís García scores against his old club

Bad spell comes to an end 
 
Thanks to a penalty granted to Espanyol 45 matches since the last one, managed to defeating Mallorca for the first time in ten years  
Espanyol left Palma with an excellent and sweet victory after a fully controlled and intense game played with passion. Once more this match proved that being a bit more accurate the score would have been greater. Espanyol played better than Mallorca both with 11 and 10 men on the pitch, especially as all players had to fight to the very last second to avoid the attack of their rivals.

The match started as cold as the day. Both teams studied each other for a short while, marking the several positions on the field for a later display and the initial start was soon forgotten with plenty of coming and going in both boxes.

Espanyol was well positioned on the pitch and managed to cope with the attacks from Mallorca who, in spite of certain changes, they have powerful strikers as well as an excellent midfield. Víctor Ruiz was the first one to head a ball from the corner which was sent away by a defender on the goal line.

The blue and white players performed excellent passes amongst themselves taking advantage of the spaces created by Luis García and Callejón. On the other hand, Cristian had to put extra effort acting as last defender.

Inspiration in the Espanyol attack allowed the team to score after a good action by Luis García who dribbled young Kevin who had to push the Guaje down the pitch for the ref to grant a clear penalty. In total, there have been 45 games without any penalty in our favor. Luis García took advantage to score the final 0-1.

It was only a short happy moment since the ref Iglesias Villanueva showed a direct red card to Osvaldo after a header between him and Crespí. However, Espanyol stayed firm and moved the ball with intelligence and patience, thus they controlled the match in the first half.

Laudrup put on the field all his strikers to win the match, but Espanyol kept going. Even playing with ten men, Espanyol produced a wonderful football performance. The fact of playing with one player less plus all the effort in their legs, did not affect their way of playing. As a matter of fact, the local goalie was Mallorca’s best player as it happened in previous games that the rival’s keeper has been always the best rival player. Especially when he produced a triple saving, even a clearer chance by Baena after an excellent action by Luis García. Alvaro had the best chance but his mild shot was saved by Crespí on added time.

Game stats:

RCD Mallorca: Aouate, Ratinho, Ramis, Nsue (Pereira, min.59), Cavenaghi (Sergi Enric, min.73), Castro, Víctor (Webó, min.59), Marti, De Guzmán, Martí Crespí and Kevin.

RCD Espanyol: C.Álvarez, Chica, D.García, J. Márquez (Raúl Baena, min.74), Víctor Ruiz, Callejón (Álvaro, min.67), Luis García, J.Verdú (Javi López, min.87), Osvaldo, Forlin and Duscher.

Referee: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (Galician).

Yellow card: Luis García (min.13), Callejón (min.50), Duscher (min.79), Kevin (min.29), Martí (min.53), Martí Crespí (min.56). Red Card: Osvaldo (min.34).

Goal: 0-1, Luis García (min.31).

Incidence: Before kickoff the players observed one minute silence in honor of Miguel Angel Darder and also Agustín Domínguez, Arteche y Pepín. Espanyol was represented by the president, Daniel Sánchez Llibre, the vice-president, José Luis Perelló, and the directors Enrique Beltran and Joan Josep Bertomeu.

Tamudo and Forlín

Bad run of form continues 
 
Bravo avoids the local defeat in a match which was decided by a Forlin own-goal. 
 
Raul Tamudo played against his former team, RCD Espanyol, for the first time in Anoeta. Although it was a strange situation for him and for the blue-and-white players, the day passed off normally and both sides thought only about the three points that were at stake.

In the first part of the match the team from Barcelona was after the Real Sociedad’s goal. Luis tried to center many times and Osvaldo shot on goal, but they were unlucky in all their attempts.

Both teams tried to dominate the match with their own style in Anoeta. The Real had better ball contact, more elaborated moves and more aggressive approach to Kameni. The locals wanted to regain the good feelings at the beginning of the Liga after three consecutive defeats and Pochettino’s team wanted to sum up a win out of Cornellà-El Prat.

Galán withdrew thirty minutes after the kick off with a fracture in the fibula what forced to Pochettino to recompose the team, already broken.

In the second part the match was just more of the same. The Basques opted to defeat their goal and Pochettino changed some players. The mister gave minutes to Álvaro, who entered for Osvaldo.
From 0-1 to 1-0 in only few seconds. A wrong kick of Sarpong ended with a self goal of Forlín who impacted the ball which entered in Kameni’s goal. Last minutes were a fight to goal Real and Álvaro y Luis García try to attack the basque goalkeeper but Bravo stopped them.

Game stats:

Real Sociedad: Bravo, C.Martínez, M.González, Griezmann (Sarpong, min.78), Xabi Prieto, Aranburu, Ansotegi, Zurutuza,Rivas, Tamudo (Llorente, min.67) and De la Bella.

RCD Espanyol: Kameni, D.García, J.Márquez,Víctor Ruiz, Callejón, Luis García, J.Verdú, E.Galán (Chica, min.31), Osvaldo (Álvaro, min.72), Forlín and Duscher.

Referee: Javier Tuerienzo Álvarez (Castillan y Leon).

Goals: 1-0, Forlín in own goal (min.84)

Alvaro scores the only goal of the game on his debut

The good spell continues 
 
Espanyol wins thanks to a goal by Alvaro
 
Third match in the season and third victory. Espanyol, in spite of misfortune, could defeat Osasuna thanks to a goal scored by Alvaro Vázquez, who could not have dreamt a better premiere. The Pochettino team could overcome their many injured players and, although with more suffering than expected, added a new victory in the Stadium of the RCDE each time more and more unyielding ground.

Osasuna, whose away record is really poor since last January 31st, played rather freely and took the initiative in the game from the start.

Espanyol, who faced this match with many injured players off the pitch, was surprised by the rojillo team and needed some time to settle down. The perico defenders, with Chica leading them, managed to resist the initial pressure rather calmly.

The supporters were very annoyed with the referee of previous Tuesday in Madrid, and even more after Ramírez Domínguez ignored clear hands by Pandiani who performed a “zamorana” which was not sanctioned whereas last Tuesday it meant a penalty. Once the supporters were calmed and Verdú missed a good chance to score, the match became more attarctive when the white and blue team took advantage of the decreasing energy of Osasuna.

Pochettino was once more daring by picking Alvaro as centre forward amongst other alternatives he had on hand. He thought it was the best player to replace injured Sergio García, while Osvaldo, who reduced in half his expected recovery time, awaited in the bench.

The player from the lower Espanyol categories took perfect advantage of the oportunity given to him by his manager. In less than five minutes, he provoked that lolo was sent off after two stupid actions. And shortly afterwards proved his talent with a superb goal, after quickly dribbling Puñal, he shot with his left foot. Alvaro had his dreamt debut at home. The goal encouraged Espanyol.

Thrill and ambition of this team grow by the minute. The white and blue team is a happy team especially when they are ahead in the score. Camacho tried to mend his team, but Pochettino’s men were in control. Chica, from the right wing, twice passed the ball and twice Alvaro amd Callejón could not score.

Osasuna started well again and Damia gave a couple of frights which he could not finish. Pochettino tried to be in control and picked Molina, who gave a fantastic impression in Madrid. Espanyol carried on looking for the goal but also taking care in defence. Alvaro and Verdú enjoyed a couple of chances which they could not take advantage of.

Espanyol was in control and Osasuna used Pandiani as the last resource, not a very creative solution, but dangerous due to the talent of the Uruguayan player.

However both Amat and Víctor Ruiz played very well and “The Rifle” had to be substituted. The bad news was that Amat got injured being substituted by another debutant, David López. The team worked hard to keep the three points and the match would have been more placid should the players have scored the various chances they enjoyed during the game. The white and blue team got their ninth point in three games in ther Stadium.
Game stats:

RCD Espanyol: Kameni, Chica, J.Márquez, Dídac, Víctor Ruiz, Callejón, Luis García, J.Verdú, Duscher (Molina, min.57), Amat (D.López, min.89) and Álvaro (Osvaldo, min.75).

CA Osasuna: Ricardo, Monreal, M.Flaño, Lolo, Aranda (Josetxo, min.31), Puñal, W.Pandiani (Lekic, min.85), Juanfran (Rúper, min.31), N.Camuñas, Soriano M. and Damiá.

Referee: Rafael Ramírez Domínguez. Yellow card: Damiá (min.13), Lolo (min.19 and min.20), Puñal (min.70), Duscher (min.45), Víctor Ruiz (m.52) and J.Verdú (min.82).

Goal: 1-0, Álvaro (min.24).

Attendance: 26.820 spectators.

RCD Espanyol 1 – UD Almeria 0

Espanyol wins thanks to a goal by Callejón in second half

It's taken seven months, but Callejón's goal was a 3 pointer!

Espanyol obtained their second victory this season versus Almería thanks to a goal by Callejón at the start of the second half. The blue and white team showed once more that it will be extremely difficult to defeat them in their home ground of Cornellá-Prat.
 
Espanyol faced a very well positioned team who from the start absorbed all the home teams’ attacks. Mauricio Pochettino’s team tried harder than their rival and showed a greater ambition. Almería did not want to approach Espanyol’s goal and their main target was to slow down the rhythm of the game as well as to make the Espanyol players feel very uncomfortable on the pitch.
 
Lillo – the Almería coach – produced quite a conservative tactical game, however rather uncomfortable for the home team who was not as precise as they were on previous matches. Almería seemed to be happy with the initial score, whereas Espanyol tried their hardest to find a gap in their visitors defensive line to enable them to score.

The match drastically changed at the end of the first half. After Callejón fell in the box, the home chances increased by the minute. Kameni, very alert, saved a shot in the small box by Piatti. Iván Alonso playing today as a centre forward produced a hard shot from the front line which Diego Alves managed to send away.
 
Kameni, once more, magnificently saved a dangerous shot by Bernardello sending it to for a corner. Callejón reacted immediately with two very good distant shots well saved by the visitor goalie. Espanyol, at the end of the first half seemed to be better positioned and created more chances.
 
The first half left a good sensation on the pitch and this materialised at the start of the second half with a wonderful goal scored by the player from Granada, José Callejón. Fans would have been a lot happier if Sergio García would have scored from a very good pass from the right wing by Luis García.
 
Espanyol kept controlling the game, especially Almería’s two fast players such as Crusat and Piatti. The argentinian had a header bounce off the post and shortly afterwards Victor Ruiz almost scored an own goal!!
 
Callejón was determined to keep Diego Alves busy and once more tried a distant shot which this time the visitor keeper managed to sort out. Pochettino’s players tried their hardest till the final whistle to ensure their second victory of the new season.
 
Game Stats
 
RCD Espanyol : Kameni, David García, J. Márquez, Víctor Ruiz, Callejón (Javi López, min.89), Luis García, Galán, Forlín, Sergio García (Dátolo, min.72), Duscher and Iván L.M. (J.Verdú, min.48)
 
UD Almería: Diego Alves, Jakobsen, Marcelo Silva (Valeri, min.71), Crusat, P.Piatti (Corona, min.71), J.M. Ortiz, Mo (Nieto, min.87), Ulloa, Carlos García, Vargas and Bernardello.
 
Referee: José A. Teixeira Vitienes (Cantabria).
Yellow card: Marcelo Silva (min.16), Carlos García (min.61), Ulloa (min.93), Forlín (min.20), Duscher (min.22), Sergio García (min.65).
 
Goal: 1-0, Callejón (min.47)
 
Attendance: 24.345 spectators.

Villarreal CF 4 – RCD Espanyol 0

4-0: Bad luck continues in Villarreal 

Osvaldo will be out for 4 weeks

 
Once Villarreal scored, Iturralde (the match referee) started with his unfortunate performance. Frankly, till that moment he seemed to be totally absent but from then onwards, inconsistent fouls and bookings flowed!! For the ref it was a virtually identical tackle on Callejón – almost having a broken leg – which he judged ‘unintentional’, that he ignored a clear foul of Víctor Ruiz on Nilmar when he was running straight on goal. Fair is fair. Well, only before there was a clear handball of a local Villarreal defender that went unpunished in a corner shot by Espanyol and booked Angel for a small and irrelevant kick. As we said, there is one point in which this man gets mentally crossed and everything changes!!
 
The truth is that during the first half an hour the match was full of rhythm. After Borja’s big chance, Espanyol reacted with three excellent ones, two by Osvaldo and triple shot by “the guaje” Luis García, Verdú and Osvaldo which were saved by Diego López, Musacchio and Capdevila.
 
Villarreal fans were concerned with Espanyol after hearing his own manager state that Espanyol was going to be one of the big surprises of the season. At one point he must have thought that he was being right. But Rossi scored in their first chance they had so that local fans were more relaxed. Shortly afterwards, Borja with his left foot shot an incredible kick which meant the second goal, an excessive prize for such little effort. On top of that Osvaldo had to be replaced after a tackle with Diego López which meant Pochettino had to reorganise his players. And then Iturralde who wanted to become the protagonist. He conceded a penalty to Villarreal in an action which Kameni clearly went for the ball whislt attempting to avoid Rossi, who in turn deliberately looked for a contact with our goalkeeper. Rossi scored and was pardoned by his fans after a week marked by controversial statements by the player.
 
The good news is that Iván de la Peña returned to the field after 10 endless months on the sidelines. In one of his first actions, he passed on the ball to Callejón who shot but the ball stopped on the goal line and Marchena managed to clear it. There was no way Espanyol was going to score in this match!!! Espanyol kept trying but to no avail. They moved the ball from one side to the other but Villarreal with the goal margin, was effective in their defence awaiting the final whistle. The fourth goal came after a fast action by Jefferson Montero culminated by Nilmar. Iván Alonso had an spectacular kick near the end which went out by milimitres. But Iturralde wanted to close the circle by sending Chica off after his spectacular tackle which had no bad intention. The fact is that Espanyol left the field after five seasons without scoring any goal to Diego López.
 
Game stats:
 
Villarreal CF: Diego López, Musacchio (Gonzalo, min.79), Marchena, Ángel, Nilmar, Cazorla (Jefferson Montero, min.69), Capdevila, Senna, Borja (Cani, min.69), Bruno and Rossi.
 
RCD Espanyol: Kameni, Chica, D.García, Javi Márquez (Iván Alonso, min.68), Víctor Ruiz, Callejón, Luis García (De la Peña, min.59), J.Verdú, Osvaldo (Sergio García, min.31), Forlín and Duscher.
 
Referee: Eduardo Iturralde González. Yellow card: Osvaldo (min.17), Luis García (min.24), Forlín (min.26), Callejón (min.26), Duscher (min.53), Iván Alonso (min.87), Musacchio (min.26), Ángel (min.36), Rossi (min.39), Diego López (min.61), Gonzalo (min.81). Red card: Chica (min.84).
 
Goals: 1-0, Rossi (min.22); 2-0, Borja (min.31); 3-0, Rossi (min.54); 4-0, Nilmar (min.76).
 
Incidents: Capdevila received a trophy that accredited him as the most distinguished player from Villarreal the past season. In the VIP box, representing RCD Espanyol was Daniel Sanchez Llibre, Ramon Condal, August Newton, Francesc Ciprés and Enrique Bertrán.

Real Oviedo 1 – RCD Espanyol 2

Espanyol defeats Oviedo almost trouble free in the last match of their trip to Cádiz and Asturias

Espanyol had to complete the second part of their preseason practice, after the Carranza and the friendly against Sporting, by playing against Oviedo which made their debut in front of their fans. From the From the very first minute one could see that it wasn’t going to be an easy game in spite of the difference of categories, due to the number of games played by Espanyol without enough recovery time.

In a first division ground, excellent pitch, only a few but active fans and against a team which is longing to make a come back to the division in which they lived glorious moments in the past, the white and blue team got stuck from the beginning as Nano, in view advanced position by Kameni, did a very nice shot which flew over the Cameroon goalie, so therefore they scored in their very first shot on goal.

Espanyol however did not decompose and started to try the home goal. Oviedo players clearly positioned two lines on the pitch and started to give their initiave away. The Oviedo system did not cause too many problems to Pochettino men who started to control the game and the back of their rivals. Just in case, Forlin drew thanks to a header after a free kick by Luis García before a quarter of an hour from the start. And Luis García also scored in the first third of the game with another free kick.

Anybody could see that despite the difference, it was going to be a dull game with few chances, difficult to play and pretty slow. A header by Osvaldo could have finished the match but he did not score and the game was opened for the second half.

Pochettino had warned before this trip that he was determined to use all his players and he did do so by replacing if not the full team as the previous game with Sporting, indeed he introduced massive changes and by the end of the match he used all his available players except Javi López and Mattioni who did not participate.

As minutes passed by, the game was more and more slow and dull, however the Espanyol players were doing their job without suffering too much. Kiko Casilla had a couple of good performances meanwhile Espanyol got two non granted goals by Luis García and Alvaro through off side and even Didac shot against the net side.

Game stats

Real Oviedo: Aulestia, Víctor Díaz (Artabe, min.64), Jandro (Xavi Moré, min.46), Manu Busto (Richi, min.46), Perona (Miguel, min.69), Negredo, Falcón (Moisés, min.81), J.Rodríguez, López Ramos (Gonzalo, min.74), Nano (Jonhy, min.65) and Pascual (Yosu, min.57).
Substitutes: Berto, Artabe, Gonzalo, Xavi Moré, Miguel, Richi, Jonhy, Moisés and Yosu.

RCD Espanyol: Kameni (K.Casilla, min.46), Chica (Galán, min.68), D.García (Dídac, min.46), J.Márquez (Álvaro, min.68), Callejón (Coro, min.46), Luis García (R.Fonte, min.68), J.Verdú (Iván L.M., min.46), Osvaldo (Pau, min.68), Forlín (Raúl R., min.46), Amat (Moisés, min.46) and Galán (Molina, min.46).
Substitutes: K.Casilla, Dídac, Coro, Moisés, Iván L.M., Álvaro, Molina, Pau, Raúl R. and Rui Fonte.

Referee: José Ramón Piñeiro Crespo. Yellow card: Forlín (min.37), Luis García (min.40), Dídac (min.86).

Goals: 1-0, Nano (min.6); 1-1, Forlín (min.13); 1-2, Luis García (min.33).

Incidence: 3.400 spectators at the Carlos Tartiere. RCD Espanyol was represented in the presidential tribune by Germán de la Cruz.

Real Sporting Gijon 1 – RCD Espanyol 0

Unfair defeat

The white and blue offered a good image adversus Sporting in a match where the ref and the pitch had a lot to do with the outcome.

Espanyol has lost just by one goal in their premiere in Asturian lands versus Sporting on a match with a terrible pitch condition plus the ref mistakes which meant a heavy burden for Espanyol.

In spite of that, the match was controlled by Espanyol and the best chances were always for the catalans. Sporting conquered the Ramón Losada Trophy thanks to a free kick and little more. Just to get an idea it was Juan Pablo, the goalie, the best for Sporting with a great difference.

The first shock was the state of the pitch. It was completely atrocious, incredible for Asturias especially when they are used to organise this type of matches with first division teams many years now. After all the idea was to avoid in as much as possible any kind of injury for the players. Everybody expected more, especially when Gregory got injured alone when he did a wrong movement with his foot trying to shoot the ball away.

Espanyol controlled the game during the first half an hour. Kameni only had a save to a direct shot from Morán. In between, Luis García enjoyed a good chance, his shot passing by very close at Juan Pablo’s right plus another weak shot from Iván Alonso.

Having controlled the game, the ref blew a very doubtful foul at the front of the penalty area by Coro to Jose Angel. Coro complained to the ref that there was no foul at all. It was a golden opportunity for a good shooter and Sangoy did not pass his chance. Kameni could not do anything with such a precise kick.

From thereafter, the ref became protagonist of the game, he didn’t apply equal justice for both teams and he proved that when Alvaro fell in the area, the linesman considered foul against Sporting but he left that action un penalised. That made the game a bit more physical ended with Iván Alonso absolutely mad with Jose Angel. The Uruguayan forward had to apologise at half time.

Pochettino considers these two games as mere practice so that he replaced the eleven players at half time. The second half team put Sporting to the edge of the field. Verdú and Callejón performed a very good action ended in a corner kick, deserving an ovation from the fans.

Shortly afterwards, Osvaldo sent the ball to the bar and in 68 minute, Rui Fonte took the ball to Juan Pablo but Iván Hernández saved under the bar. Verdú enjoyed another good chance after an excellent action by Callejón. But Espanyol tried their best till the final blow without being rewarded with any goal at all.

Game stats

Real Sporting: Juan Pablo, Pedro, José Ángel, Ayoze (Barral, m.66), Sangoy (Diego Castro, m.66), Bilic (Sergio, m.79), Gregory (Jorge, m.16), Iván Hernández, Luis Morán (Nacho Novo, m.66), Marcos Landeira and Matabuena.

RCD Espanyol (First Half): Kameni, Chica, J. Marquez, Dídac, Luis García, Coro, Moisés, Iván LM, Álvaro, Galán and Raúl Rodríguez.
Second half: Kiko Casilla, David García, Callejón J. Verdú, Osvaldo, Forlín, Amat, Molina, Pau, Rui Fonte and Javi López.

Goal: 1-0: Sangoy (m..33).

Referee: Sr. Coronas Durán (C.Asturiano). Yellow card Landeira (m.87) and Molina (m.77).

Incidence: 3.000 spectators. Germán de la Cruz represented the club. The journalist José María García attended the match.

At. Madrid 1 – RCD Espanyol 1

Champions of the Carranza Trophy!

Espanyol conquers their second trophy after defeating Atlético de Madrid from the penalty spot

As on previous games, Espanyol lifted the 56 Carranza Trophy thanks to their accuracy from the penalty spot. This is how they won the last Ciutat de Barcelona, also the way they defeated Sevilla on the semifinal and finally the way they won Atlético de Madrid tonight in Cádiz which is their second title in three participations and most probably the most moving due to the constant memory towards Dani Jarque during the day. But it is as well the addition of all collective efforts to defeat two teams, Sevilla and Atlético de Madrid who used their best players in their respective side lines, in front a rival who employed their youth and strength together with the commitment of the senior players.

The kick off was a bit delayed due to the preliminary acts in loving memory of Espanyol former captain, Dani Jarque in their first anniversary since he passed away. But soon things changed, and how!
It was nearly the first action in the game when Diego Costa scored for Atlético de Madrid with a header in the first corner of the match, just in the first minute.

But Callejón, only two minutes later, thanks to a good pass from Iván Alonso, who in turn received the ball sent by Simao by mistake, scored the goal which meant the final draw and also it was his first goal in this pre-season being the only forward who had not previously scored in any of the preceeding matches.
It seemed that the match went mad and also very vivid especially at this time of the season.

However it gradually went calm but also with several exchange of good chances. Only in three minutes, from 20 to 23, both Cristian Alvarez and Mattioni had to leave the pitch through injuries. With regard to the goalie it was due to the kick received when he tried to get rid of the ball in front of Diego Costa. As far as Mattioni is concerned, it seemed it was due to precaution more than anything else.

Thereafter, rhythm decreased and both teams faced difficulties to find the rival’s goal under an oppressing night close and high temperature. Both managers realized the situation and performed several changes in the second half. Osvaldo and Alvaro played more profound and the same did Kun Agüero for AtlM. More chances were created on both goals. Reyes shot to the post shortly after second half commenced and Kun Agüero tried Casilla reaction. Same applied to Osvaldo with Joel after a fighting action from Callejón.

The match was therefore rather slow but the uncertainty of the final score kept the interest for the fans. Reyes had a brilliant performance from a free kick which had a good reply by Casilla. However none of the teams managed to score. Osvaldo did the same with Joel after a struggling action from Callejón.

The match was rather slow but the uncertainty of the score kept the interest of the fans. Reyes had a brilliant free kick which was responded by Casilla with a good save but finally the match had to be resolved from the penalty spot and Espanyol was rewarded with the victory thanks to the collective effort which in the end was in loving memory of Dani Jarque still very painful for the white and blue family.

Game stats

At.Madrid: Joel, Valera, Raúl García (Salvio, min.74), Jurado, Assunçao, Ujfalusi, Reyes, Simao (M.Suárez, min.77), Perea, Diego Costa (Kun Agüero, min.46) y Filipe.
Substitutes: Iago, A.López, M.Suárez, Camacho, Kun Agüero, Perea, Salvio, Koke, Juanito, Cabrera, Keko y Ibra.

RCD Espanyol: C.Álvarez (K.Casilla, min.20), D.García, J.Márquez (Osvaldo, min.46), Callejón, J.Verdú, Mattioni (Javi López, min.23), Coro (Álvaro, min.46), Moisés (Forlín, min.66), Iván L.M. (Pau, min.85), Amat (Galán, min.66) y Molina.
Substitutes: Kameni, K.Casilla, Chica, Dídac, Lusi García, Osvaldo, Forlín, Álvaro, Galán, Pau, Rui Fonte y Javi López.

Referee: Miguel Ángel Pérez Lasa (C.Vasco). Yellow cards for Atlético de Madrid players: Reyes (min.30), Ujfalusi (min.71), Valera (min.72), Mario (min.85). Yellow cards for Espanyol players: Osvaldo (min.49), Molina (min.52), D.García (min.65), Iván L.M. (min.73). Red car: Luis García (min.73).

Goals: 1-0, Diego Costa (min.1); 1-1, Callejón (min.3)
Penalty shootout: 1-0 Kun Agüero 1-1 Callejón 1-1 Filipe (Casilla refuses), 1-1 Molina (Joel refuses), 2-1 Mario Suárez, 2-2 Verdú, 3-2 Jurado, 3-3 Álvaro, 3-3 Reyes (Casilla refuses), 3-4 Osvaldo.

Incidence: A minute of silence was kept before the start of the match.

Dani Jarque remembered today.

It has been exactly one year since Dani Jarque left us. Dani, who had only just been handed the reigns as RCD Espanyol Captain a few days before that famous inaugurational 3-0 victory over Liverpool FC, was at his hotel in Coverciano, Italy when disaster struck. He was on the phone to his fiance when suddenly the line went silent and the rest, as they say, is history. What followed was unprecedented in the Club’s 109 year history: tens of thousands of people lined up at gate # 21 (his shirt number) to pay their respect to a player who died at the age of 26, who was 2 months away from becoming a father and like Antonio Puerta before him was taken away from us when we least expected and far too soon in life.

That day and the days to follow there was only one focus: putting aside any differences, putting aside the colour of your team’s shirt and join in the silence that reigned inside the stadium. Hundreds of Espanyol shirts were laid on the floor – both old and new – thousands of candles were lit and an ever-increasing number of people came from all corners of the nation and overseas, to lay down whatever item they had to remember the player.

Today, those who are in close proximity to the Cornella-El Prat Stadium have the opportunity to conmemorate this first anniversary of his passing. Gate 21 will be open for 2 hours, from 11am through to 1pm and those who want to access the Dani Jarque memorial wall will be able to do so during this time.

Dani, you were an example to us all on and off the field and you are very much in our hearts. Thank you to Andres Iniesta for remembering him when you scored that goal in the World Cup final and thank you to all those who will be thinking of him today. We miss you Dani. May you Rest In Peace.

PERICOZ

RCD Espanyol Supporters Club (Australia).