Gerard Moreno breaks Espanyol's heart

Cornellá de LlobregatIn 2007, Gerard Moreno signed for Badalona's youth team because Espanyol didn't want him. There, he met Manolo González, who was just starting his coaching career and who mentored him. He went on to have a successful career in La Liga and returned to Espanyol, the club he's supported since childhood, as a club idol. She left for Villarreal in tears. And last night, in his first match against his "footballing father," he scored a goal and led the Yellows to victory at the RCDE Stadium, breaking the hearts of the nearly 30,000 Espanyol fans who cheered him when his name was called. All these fans were feeling very optimistic when they saw their Espanyol not back down even against the third-placed team in La Liga. And that's despite the fact that Carlos Romero and Ramon Terrats, on loan from Castellón, couldn't play because Espanyol refused to pay the buyout clause. Salinas took the full-back position and almost created the first goal with a good cross that didn't find a finisher. Earlier, Roberto had collided with a defender's legs when half the stadium was already celebrating a goal. Dolan, Omar El Hilali, and Urko González also returned to the starting eleven.

Like Espanyol, Villarreal doesn't need possession to create danger; they specialize in counter-attacks. And that's why the game became a chess match: neither side wanted to take too many risks with the ball, lest they make a mistake and allow the opponent to run into space. If Dolan hadn't seemed to lose his spark every time he entered the penalty area, the game would surely have been different. It was boring. Only Expósito and Gerard Moreno tried to liven things up.

It was precisely the former Espanyol striker who decided the match with a seemingly harmless shot from outside the box that grazed Salinas and made it impossible for a well-marked Dmitrovic to reach it. The first thing Gerard did, even before embracing his teammates, was to raise his arms to apologize to the fans of his beloved club.

With a very well-organized Villarreal side, impenetrable for Espanyol, shortly after halftime Alberto Moleiro crushed the spirits of the Pericos with the 0-2. It was a textbook counter-attack led by Buchanan, which the Canary Islander finished with a header into the net. The score remained unchanged, and despite the frustration, the RCDE Stadium rose to its feet to bid farewell to Gerard Moreno, whom the Espanyol fans still consider one of their own, even though he now scores goals in another shirt at their stadium.