45 minutes are not enough for Espanyol

BarcelonaEspanyol lamented their disastrous start in Leganés. In a nine-point week and after a great triumph at El Sadar, 45 calamitous minutes led to their defeat (2-1) against a Rayo Vallecano side playing in exile. If four days ago in Pamplona the rivals' mistakes paved the way, yesterday their own errors made life very difficult for them, right from the start.

The 'periquito' fans who left work just in time missed the first goal, by Álvaro García. It came in the third minute of play, caused by a poor back pass from Gabriel Moscardo, one of the three new faces in Manolo González's starting eleven. Aware that at Anoeta they were also sunk by their own errors, the Galician coach looked on with a very unhappy face. It was no accident, but rather a prelude to what was to come. More than one would have preferred to stay and work overtime instead of watching the dreadful first half from the Catalans.

A start to forget

Inaccurate and overwhelmed by the predictable intensity of Rayo Vallecano, the blue-and-whites took 45 minutes to show up at Butarque. Rafa Bauza, also a novelty in the lineup, showed signs of life with a long-range shot that went wide, the sad offensive tally in the first half for the parakeets, who conceded a second goal just before the hydration break. The author was Adrià Pedrosa, who apologized for his blue-and-white past after exposing his former teammates, booed and with reason by Manolo while they took a very bitter sip of water.

Minutes later, Sergio Camello crashed against Dmitrovic's crossbar, who was thankful that his team reached halftime losing only 2-0 in one of Espanyol's worst first halves since Manolo took the reins of the first team. The blue-and-whites, apathetic and diminished by the local momentum, leaked water everywhere, especially in the midfield, where they greatly missed Edu Expósito. Bauza, Urko González, and Moscardo made a habit of committing unforced errors and complicating life for the defenders, who were unable to hold off the Vallecano buffaloes when they surged forward.

The metamorphosis of Espanyol

At halftime, Manolo brought on the midfielder from Cubelles to provide some composure. Bryan Zaragoza and Marcos Fernández also came on, tasked with adding the necessary intensity to try and turn the score around. It took them just five minutes to produce more than in the entire first half. Roberto is scoring a goal per game, and the first decent ball he received, he converted into the 2-1. A great goal from the white-and-blue top scorer who, assisted by Javi Hernández, ran into space, sat his marker down, and placed it into the top corner.

Espanyol was no longer the team from the start. Nor was Rayo, confused by their rival's drastic change, capable of subduing them as few teams have done this year. Expósito, Javi, and Zaragoza provided the football, while Marcos and Roberto provided the chances, more than enough to tie the match. But the ball did not go in, and the white-and-blues ended up cursing their disastrous first half.