The RCDE Stadium needed this. I needed it urgently, desperately, with the anguish of someone who hasn’t won for five months and sees the abyss getting closer day after day. This Wednesday night, in an event that had all the appearance of a final, Espanyol beat Athletic this Wednesday 2-0 and ended a streak that bordered on historic: 18 games without a win, 142 days of drought in the First Division.
2
Marko Dmitrovic, Carlos Romero, Clemens Riedel, Leandro Cabrera, Omar El Hilali, Pol Lozano, Urko González de Zárate (Charles Pickel, min. 90), Rubén Sánchez (Jofre Carreras, min. 62), Antoniu Roca (Pere Milla, min. 62), Edu Expósito (Ramon Terrats, min. 83) and Roberto Fernández (Kike García, min. 83)
0
Unai Simón, Dani Vivian (Yeray Álvarez, min. 45), Aymeric Laporte, Adama Boiro, Jesús Areso (Andoni Gorosabel, min. 70), Unai Gómez (Nico Serrano, min. 77), Robert Navarro, Alex Berenguer, Alejandro Rego, Íñigo Ruíz de Galarreta (Mikel Jauregizar, min. 62) and Iñaki Williams (Gorka Cruzeta, min. 62)
Goals
1-0 min. 68: Pere Milla. 2-0 min. 91: Kike García
. Although it was a weekday Wednesday, the stands were overturned from the initial whistle, aware that a stumble could be lethal. Levante had already won before this match started. Five teams tight to 39 points. The descent, so close you could touch it.
as a novelty in the eleven, covering Dolan’s sanctioned absence, and the team responded with determination from the start. Carlos Romero was a constant threat on the left and had the clearest shot of the first half: a cross shot that Unai Simón expertly cleared. Roberto Fernández also forced the Basque goalkeeper with a beautifully crafted backheel. Edu Expósito, meanwhile, governed the center of the field with pause and intelligence.
Opposite, Athletic was in no hurry. Unai Simón stretched each goal kick to the limit, marking his times. Valverde’s men barely created danger with intention, although they did come close to scoring almost accidentally: an attempted clearance by Urko hit Laporte’s back and ended up on the post. Scare in Cornellà. The break came with the scoreboard blank and nerves on edge.
The second half started without clarity until the Galician coach brought on Pere Milla and Jofre Carreras, and the game was transformed. It was Romero who led the way: a pinpoint center to the near post that Pere Milla volleyed unceremoniously. The stadium exploded. Curiosity of fate: the last goal that had given victory to Espanyol, in San Mamés in December, had also been scored by Milla.
Athletic pushed in the final stretch. Dmitrovic responded with a great save from a shot inside the area after a corner, and Guruzeta found the post in the 82nd minute. But Espanyol no longer let go. In stoppage time, Kike García received alone, after a combing by Pickel, he drove with speed and finished low against Simón. The 2-0 was the final point to a night of catharsis.
