To the lyricism of Sarabia's Espanyol, only the goal is missing

Cornellà de LlobregatThe Eder Sarabia era began with the Basque coach in a grandstand at the RCDE Stadium and his assistant, Jon López, directing from the bench due to the one-match suspension the new blue and white manager was carrying. The perspective granted by the height of Cornellà-El Prat allowed him to scrutinize the strengths and shortcomings of a team unaccustomed to taking the initiative, which lacked a bit of ruthlessness to turn the good football displayed against Deportivo de La Coruña (0-0) into three points. It became clear that from now on the blue and white fans will be entertained, it remains to be seen if they will also celebrate victories. With the first diagnosis in hand, Sarabia now has two weeks of the international break to polish the details of a proposal that, for the moment, is more convincing in its play than in its results.

A new footballing dimension

The revolutionary eleven proposed by the Basque coach, with two full-backs -Omar El Hilali and Quilindschy Hartmann- playing as centre-backs and two wingers -Tyrhys Dolan and the young Alejandro Santiago- as wing-backs in a three-man defence, evidenced the intentions of a manager with very strong convictions and a brave style of play that was reflected on the pitch from the very beginning. With more than 70% possession, Espanyol could have reached the first quarter of an hour with a one or two-goal lead. Deportivo was lucky to have the saves of Leo Román, who denied a goal to Roberto Fernández and Alejandro Santiago. Between one chance and the other, the match was stopped to remember Jesús de Miguel with a minute of silence. It was very emotional.

Pere Milla also hovered around the goal, one of the great novelties in the lineup and one of the most active footballers for the 'periquitos', who were very intense both with and without the ball. The forward from Lleida and Roberto lacked the precision to find the way to goal. Dépor, well-organized at the back, looked for a mistake from the hosts, but the fact that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started on the bench diminished their chances of taking advantage of the few concessions made by the 'periquitos', who were brave but not suicidal. If necessary, Àngel Fortuño, who remained in the starting eleven despite the change of coach, played long balls. Sarabia had already explained in his presentation that over time he had learned that his footballing proposal allowed for nuances.

Fatigue and the presence of Aubameyang, who came on at the start of the second half, leveled the forces between Espanyol and a Deportivo de La Coruña that did not give up on winning: the Catalan coach Antonio Hidalgo also brought on former 'blaugrana' Adama Traoré, whistled at like Marc Casadó, to revolutionize his team's play.

Neither one nor the other, nor Javi Hernández, the top assist provider for the white-and-blues, had the impact their coaches imagined in a match that neither Roberto nor Marcos Fernández could decide in the 90th minute, during a masterful counterattack by the 'periquitos'. Between Leo Román and Villares, they frustrated the first victory for Eder Sarabia's Espanyol, which lacked the accuracy to win on the day of his debut.