A punch on the table by Puado maintains the impregnability of Cornellà-El Prat

Cornellà de LlobregatEspanyol extends its romance with Cornellà-El Prat, where it had won its last four League matches – one of them the last day of last season against Las Palmas –, placing itself in Champions League positionDespite deserving the win, the Blue and Whites took a desperately needed point thanks to a Javi Puado header in the final play of the match against a highly effective Valencia side that had yet to score away from Mestalla. A quick triangulation and a strategic move were enough to put them on the verge of winning. Captain Perico, who has been heavily criticized in recent days for his poor accuracy and whom Manolo González defended in a press conference – "sooner or later he'll score goals," he said – avoided it.

Rotations with Montilivi in mind

With the visit to Montilivi on Friday, in a week with two matches, Manolo González decided to make some rotations: he gave German center-back Clemens Riedel, one of Garagarza's bets, his debut, and gave Charles Pickel the alternative, who practically acted as a second striker behind Kike García, who started in Roberto's position. And, from the start, the changes didn't go well for the Galician, because fifteen minutes into the match, Danjuma fired past Dmitrovic after a great cross from Luis Rioja. This was a morale boost for a bipolar Valencia, very confident at home, who had been counting their away matches as defeats.

The orderliness of Carlos Corberán's men, exemplified by César Tárrega, and the speed and ability to correct the other center-back, Mouctar Diakhaby, despaired of an Espanyol side that was more imprecise than usual and incapable of doing what it does best: attacking the spaces in the opposing defense through the wingers. It was precisely like that, behind Carlos Romero's back, that the visitors' 0-1 scoreline came. The home side also failed to find a way to score from set pieces, seeing Tárrega himself save a point-blank shot from Puado and a header from Pickel just as Manolo González's team had clearly dominated the game and created the chances.

The Folgoso do Courel manager wasn't seeing things clearly and after the break brought on Roberto Fernández for Pickel, opting for a double striker with Kike García. Perhaps he wouldn't have made the change had he known that in the immediate aftermath, Cabrera would have tied the game with a header after a delightful cross from Expósito's corner. Hugo Duro responded in the following play to make it 2-1.

Espanyol kept trying, cornering the visitors. First, Expósito, with a weak shot that fell to Agirrezabala; then, Kike García, who incomprehensibly missed the equalizer after a great assist from Roberto; and finally, Puado, alone in the six-yard box, frustrated the unaccustomed Blue and White fans present at the Stadium. Yesterday wasn't the day for the Pericos, who couldn't even secure victory with 21 shots against a rival who had two shots on target. They didn't win, but at least, through sheer faith, they earned a golden point after Roberto's free kick extended a ball, which Javi Puado headed home to make it 2-2, redeeming themselves and preserving their unbeaten run in Cornellà-El Prat.