Espanyol does not survive its errors in Anoeta

BarcelonaEspanyol's first away game ended in disappointment because Mikel Oyarzabal decided so. The Real Sociedad forward, honored for being a world champion, made the white-and-blues pay dearly for their mistakes (2-1). Two assists from the Eibar player sealed the fate of the periquitos, who were too erratic yesterday at Anoeta. Roberto Fernández's great goal was of no use to the Catalans, who were punished by Barrene and Óskarsson. Despite a good start to the league, the periquitos only have three points out of nine.

Espanyol's afternoon got complicated early on. Just four minutes into the game, a poor back pass from Álex Calatrava, the hero against Madrid, led to Real Sociedad's first goal. Oyarzabal drove towards goal, drawing away the periquito defenders, and ended up assisting Ander Barrenetxea to score with a shot into the top corner. Vanja Drkusic, in his debut as a starter, could do nothing to prevent the 1-0 and the anger of Manolo González, who does not like these types of mistakes at all.

The Basques were coming off two consecutive defeats and, including last season's matches, it had been ten games since they last won. Yesterday they smiled again thanks to a helping hand from their rival, who was brave but very imprecise at Anoeta. Another loss by Urko González, who has a txuri-urdin past, almost cost the white-and-blues their second goal. Luckily for them, Marko Dmitrovic managed to push away Oyarzabal's shot as best he could, and minutes later, the Serbian goalkeeper's palm deflected Zubeldia's header onto the crossbar. It was confirmed that set pieces are a pending issue for the periquitos, who were widely outplayed by their opponent during the first half.

Bryan Zaragoza will have to earn his place

But it is known that football does not understand justice and, despite Espanyol's poor performance, in their only good coordinated play, in their first shot on goal, they equalized just before halftime. After a great run down the left flank, Javi Hernández sent in a good cross for Roberto Fernández, who struck it to send it directly into the net. Great goal. Third strike from the Andalusian forward and third assist from the young Barcelonian, who is the great revelation of the periquito squad and who does not intend to make things easy for Bryan Zaragoza, Monchi's star signing.

Despite the goal, Manolo didn't see it clearly either and at halftime he debuted Gabriel Moscardo, who came on for a booked Urko González. The substitution changed Espanyol's demeanor, as in ten minutes they attacked more than in the previous 45, but due to poor pressure they conceded the second and ended up falling apart, unable to recover. Oyarzabal again received the ball between the lines, who once again troubled the rival defenders and gifted the goal to a teammate, in this case to Óskarsson. Madrid explained it to the white-and-blues and Real Sociedad reminded them: lapses in concentration are costly in La Liga. Manolo has a week to fix it.