RCD Espanyol stumbled again in their LaLiga EA Sports campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Butarque against Rayo Vallecano, a result that leaves the team eighth in the table with seven points. A disastrous first half, with goals from Álvaro García in the 3rd minute and Adrià Pedrosa in the 26th, decided the match despite Roberto Fernández's strike after the break.
Manager Manolo González was scathing in his analysis of the team's start. "I should have changed them all at halftime," he stated in his post-match press conference, showing his anger at the lack of intensity. The coach pointed to individual errors, like a backward pass from Gabriel Moscardo that preceded Rayo's first goal and a lack of conviction in the second duel that allowed Pedrosa to shoot and beat Predrag Dmitrovic from a narrow angle. "You cannot rescue any player," González added about the collective first-half performance.
A late reaction
After the interval, the Barcelona-based side emerged with three changes: Bryan Zaragoza, Edu Expósito and Marcos Fernández came on for José Bauzá, Moscardo and Álvaro Hinojo. The attitude shifted and, in the 54th minute, Javi Hernández found Roberto Fernández inside the box for the forward to score his sixth goal of the season in six appearances. Espanyol, who had only created two clear chances in the first half, pressed for an equaliser, but the home defence, bolstered by the introduction of Alemão in the 76th minute, held firm.
The visitor's final desperation resulted in a straight red card for Omar El Hilali in the 98th minute for a handball as the last man, extinguishing any hope of a comeback. The defeat in Leganés halts the positive momentum generated by the 0-2 win at Osasuna just three days earlier, a match where Roberto Fernández himself had scored a brace. The team now faces their next fixture at home against bottom-placed Elche with an urgent need to get back to winning ways.
With this setback, Espanyol's record stands at two wins, one draw and three losses from the first six matchdays, having scored nine goals and conceded seven. The gap to the leaders, Barcelona, widens to eleven points. Roberto Fernández stays as the team's main attacking reference, being the squad's top scorer this season. To check the squad status and any absentees, such as Jofre Carreras, visit our squad section. The match against Elche presents a key opportunity to correct course before the next international break.
The original report is at La Vanguardia Deportes
