VAR is Espanyol's best doctor.

BarcelonaEspanyol's visit to Oviedo started with a historic strike of a handful of seconds in response to the Villarreal-Barça La Liga match to be played in Miami. A "symbolic protest" initiated by the First Division captains and supported by the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) was not broadcast on television. The association censored it: for almost half a minute, the match broadcast showed aerial images of Carlos Tartiere, not the game.

Troubled start to the Alan Pace era, who yesterday achieved their first victory as the owner of an Espanyol team that is back in the European zone. And things got off to a bad start, as in the 10th minute, Dmitrovic had to prevent Ilic from scoring with a superb save. The danger came from the right flank of the Blue and Whites' defense, where Rubén Sánchez took over for Omar. Without Puado, with an eight-week injury, Manolo opted for a double striker with Roberto and Kike García, the other big change. The debut on the bench of Carlos Tartiere's Barcelona native Luis Carrión, former coach of Espanyol's women's team (between 2011 and 2013), gave the Asturians a new lease on life, making them much more of a protagonist than usual.

A goal problem

The Pericos suffered, initially unable to run into space as they like, but gradually cornered the home side and found a way to get close to scoring with crosses from the sides. For some reason, the Galician coach had chosen two finishers in Roberto and Kike, both of whom were denied by goalkeeper Escandell. He also denied Pere Milla after a precise free kick. Espanyol has had a serious problem scoring goals for days and is unable to take advantage of its outstanding offensive flow.

A real pain for the Pericos, who in Oviedo, despite suffering some scares, deserved a victory that had eluded them for over a month. And they finally found it with a most convoluted play that ended with a shot from Kike, possibly offside, that took Escandell out of the net, and the VAR reviewed it and ultimately validated the goal. Last night, the video refereeing system was the best cure for the ills of a great Espanyol, who soon finished them off with a 2-0 from the iconic Pere Milla, who lived up to his saying: "Goals are like ketchup."