Espanyol 3-0 Valencia
By: Armando | May 4th, 2009
Let me just stop and say that again. Espanyol 3 and Valencia 0. This is the same club last week that should have beaten Barcelona soundly at the Mestalla, a club with the likes of Villa, Silva and my favorite new player Mata, of course he’d be a lot better if he came out in blue and white stripes but that would a little much. Going in I thought that if we held them to a draw, took the point and quickly got on a train out of town before the refs realized anything had happened I’d be happy with the result.
I knew what we’d do too. We’d shorten the game, get them out of their rhythm, hold the ball on clearances and play more direct bypassing their midfield. We’d try to hold our shape and take a 0-0 draw to halftime and then open up in the last third of the game. There were chances all around, Luis Garcia was off and so was Alonso, but we were frustrating Los Che; it was obvious with Fernandes especially complaining about the fouls and the free kicks awarded to my pericos.
The first goal came minutes after injured Ivan Alonso was taken off for our Argentine midfielder Roman. The ball ping-ponged in the area, it fell to his feet and he blasted it from just outside the box past a diving Cesar. We extended the lead from a free kick to Pareja ( you know things are going well for us if even the dead balls are going in) and Rufete’s penalty (taken by Nene) was the topper in the match but it really showed how far we’ve come.
One month ago we looked like a second division team. We weren’t scoring goals and the club was listless. We were making mental mistakes, goal keeping errors, and we were playing selfishly. Since then we have been tactically canny, opportunistic in attack, and a monster on defense. 2 goals in the last 7 games and 5 straight shutouts. After being 20th for much of the last 2 months, we are now 14th on the table with a critical game coming up against Atletico Madrid next week. 4 more weeks to safety. It looks likely now: 6 clubs are below us. Oh, is that Real Betis right below us?
Category: Espanyol Team News
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Comments
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Good result for you guys and us. I never really doubted that your fortunes would be turned around considering the talent you have in the squad. It seems like just yesterday we were playing you guys in Glasgow…
Posted from
United States
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It is remarkable where we were and where we are now. You ay not have doubted but I doubted. We were done. We had no team leadership and management quit on us. Hiring Pochettino though was a stroke og genius. He’s still an inexperienced manager of sides, hiring and firing, involved in scouting and development, but as far as leading men goes, drawing up resources and pulling towards a common goal, can anyone say that his job has been any less than what Guardiola did down the road?
Posted from
United States -
Amazing result!! Also the 1-0 result against Ath. Bilbao almost, almost guarantees our safety…
UD Almeria here we come!!
Posted from
Australia
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