Espanyol plays dead before breaking a curse

BarcelonaEspanyol breaks the curse away from home. The white-and-blues suffered hard to end up adding the first victory of the season away from home (0-1), a golden victory that not only keeps the Espanyol away from relegation, but also sends a message: Espanyol is very much alive, also away from Cornellà-El Prat, and will continue fighting until the end. From now on, moreover, they will do so without the pressure of being one of the five teams in the five major European leagues that had not yet achieved their first victory on the away field. Almost two years later, the first away victory is here.

Manolo González's call had an effect: they had to leave the negative statistics behind and look at the positive things that his team does. And, for a few weeks now, they have done more good than harm. Espanyol were rock in defence, repeatedly frustrating the warnings of an Alavés side that, if they did not find the goal, it was also, in part, due to their failure in attack.

In Mendizorrotza, in fact, Espanyol kept up their form thanks to the defensive order that they have been acquiring for weeks. With the ball, the story was quite different, both when it came to starting the game from the back and trying to transmit some danger in the opponent's half. Espanyol barely threatened Sivera's goal in a rather muddy match, with more aerial play than control.

Alavés, in fact, were the ones who had the best chances. Toni Martínez wasted two left-footed shots that went wide, but the clearest chance of the first half fell to Kike García shortly before the break. The former Espanyol player Joan Jordán left him alone in the area by quickly serving a free kick, but the striker did not connect well with the shot, although he was alone on the penalty spot.

Espanyol, without pause or control, resisted the siege of an Alavés that wanted more but could not find the right result. One more game, Joan Garcia shone again. In the second half he frustrated two Catalans like Aleñá and Joan Jordán, who had threatened his goal with dangerous shots. Manolo González's men were not very good at attacking, since neither Puado nor Roberto Fernández managed to be precise when starting counterattacks. Neither was Král, who brings the ability to work, able to filter passes to the attackers.

And while they were putting maximum pressure on the Vitorians, the miracle appeared. Espanyol, who did not get their first shot on target until the 82nd minute, managed to make it 0-1 four minutes from the end. Two of the changes made by Manolo González decided the game: Tejero made a sensational cross and Calero headed it into the back of the net, an imperial leap to break a curse that had been weighing too much on his shoulders for too long. Let no one ever write off Espanyol.