If you play the lottery, you will most likely win. Espanyol is immersed in one of the sweetest streaks in its history – without forgetting that he is a member of the Second Division -, with 14 days undefeated, seven wins in eight games and a virtual promotion that is at most one point, if the direct rivals win absolutely everything. The outstanding leader of LaLiga Smartbank, with 77 points in 37 days, He has also recovered the fruit of his last win, the 3-0 against Malaga on Sunday, other individual leaders that he had lost months ago.
LaLiga SmartBank
* Data updated as of May 4, 2021
The most visible, since he scored a double, is the 'top scorer' for a Raúl de Tomás who has 22 goals, and that after much persistence – he managed to miss three consecutive penalties in the last month – has managed to pass Uros Djurdjevic, the scorer of Sporting de Gijón. The striker perico had not reigned in the scorers category since the distant 31 January, after Espanyol-Rayo Vallecano (2-3 and the last defeat, curiously, by the Blue and Whites), when he had 13 goals, by 12 from Djuka and Umar Sadiq, from Almería, his other rival of the season by a pursuing award. As also RdT seeks to surpass himself, at the 24 he scored with Rayo in the 2017-18 season and that constitute your best personal record.
At the other end of the pitch, Espanyo recoversl the distinction of 'zamora' for Diego López, who after finishing unbeaten in the last two days (and in another 17, previously) improves the figures of Manolo Reina, the Mallorca goalkeeper, now with 23 and 24 goals conceded, respectively. In the case of Galician, the last time is that he virtually held the 'zamora' dated no less than November 2, 2020, after the 0-3 of Espanyol precisely against Malaga, as now. It came then to reach the unbeaten record in history perica in Second, with 538 minutes without receiving a single target. And recently he has achieved another 'trophy' for his minutes: the renewal.
But that is not all. Although it is not distinguished with a specific award as in the cases of the top scorer or the goalkeeper less thrashed, the Espanyol squad has another added value: that of the maximum assistant not only in the Second Division, but also in the professional calculation, adding the First. Adrián Embarba, who has provided 14 goal passes, far exceeds the 11 for Iago Aspas (Celta de Vigo), the ten for Marcos Llorente (Atlético de Madrid, the nine for Lionel Messi (Barcelona) and Denis Suárez (Celta) and the eight for Marc Mateu (Castellón) and his own teammate Javi Puado.In the case of the parakeet winger, he has been showing that honor all season, although his first assists came… Indeed, also against Málaga, in the first round.
Once Espanyol mathematically endorsed their promotion to First Division, and in addition to fighting to retain these individual distinctions, now 'only' will the parakeet team have the stimulus to proclaim themselves champion of this Second Division, of which in 21 days so far he has held the lead, which he recovered much more recently than it may seem from his current numbers: on March 26 after winning in Castellón (1-3). Today, however, Espanyol is the leader in everything.