Espanyol does not have enough with Fortuño's saves

Cornellà de LlobregatEspanyol is competing again. And they have discovered that they have a great goalkeeper. These are the two best pieces of news for the blue-and-whites, who this afternoon made Atlético de Madrid sweat hard. Even so, neither a good match nor Fortuño's saves were enough to get anything positive against the second-placed team, the only one that can keep up with Barça in the League. Another cruel goal, by Baena in the 89th minute, dashed the efforts of the parakeets, who improved on the image offered against Rayo, Elche, and Málaga, but have lost again (0-1) and have only achieved one point out of the last 12. The defeat adds even more doubts about the continuity of Manolo González, questioned for weeks and who now faces three consecutive away games that could seal his future.

Manolo searches for the formula

The Galician has been trying for days to find the formula to recover the solvency of last year. In Malaga, he changed the goalkeeper and gave the starting position to Àngel Fortuño in place of Marko Dmitrovic, and after the good performance of the one from La Verneda, this Saturday he maintained his bet between the sticks. Furthermore, against Atletico Madrid he started with a five-man defense, an unprecedented approach for the Galician coach, with Lele Cabrera, Clemens Riedel and the Slovenian Vanja Drkusic in the center. Omar El Hilali acted between the right back and the midfield, very attentive to Ademola Lookman, a demon on the left side.

The tactical adjustment responded to the predictable dominance of the mattress makers' game, who by the 20th minute had already shot five times, none on target, and had more than 75% possession. Until then, Bryan Zaragoza, who is Espanyol's most unbalancing player, had only touched the ball a couple of times, none in the danger zone. Manolo González was not worried on the bench, aware that the first step to getting closer to the best version is to recover the competitive spirit of a team that a year ago did not shrink against any rival and that Àngel Fortuño is a guarantee between the sticks. The young academy goalkeeper justified the coach's trust with a great stretch to a shot by Jonathan David that was going in.

The game plan of the parakeet coach, today more cholista than Cholo Simeone himself, involved hunting for a counterattack or taking advantage of a set-piece action. And Roberto Fernández almost achieved it, with a header from a corner kick that went just past Oblak's goalpost. Cabrera also did so, with a shot from outside the area that crashed against the crossbar. It was the best action and almost the last of a very boring first half, ideal for taking an after-lunch nap.

Espanyol despairs Simeone

The proof that Espanyol was playing a good match against Atlético de Madrid, who were coming off five consecutive victories, is that Cholo Simeone decided to make two substitutions at halftime. Julián Álvarez and Alejandro Grimaldo came on. The modifications did not have the expected effect for the Argentine coach, who by the 67th minute had already used up all his changes. One of them, Marcos Llorente, was close to changing everything with a shot from outside the box that hit the crossbar of Fortuño, who was crucial in deflecting the ball with his fingertips. Only Javi Puado, who returned to play after almost a year of injury, was cheered more than the goalkeeper from La Verneda.

He also saved a one-on-one against Jonathan David and another against Julián. In the final minutes, Fortuño sustained Espanyol when the 'matalassers' were pressing and the 'periquitos' began to run out of gas. He stopped almost everything, but was unable to deflect the unstoppable shot from the edge of the box by Baena in the 89th minute. Like in Málaga, the rival goal came at the very end and left the 'periquitos' without a reaction, as they cannot find a way to right their course or that of their coach.