Not a single shot on goal. No scoring chance. Such was the devastating offensive balance in Vallecas of a Espanyol who could barely finish a couple of times away from Stole Dimitrievski's goal. And that Vicente Moreno resorted to practically all his arsenal: Raúl de Tomás, Javi Puado, Matías Vargas, Adrián Embarba, Nico Melamed, Álvaro Vadillo, Víctor Campuzano, Sergi Darder, Fran Mérida … Suddenly, Espanyol did not shoot.
The high pressure of Rayo Vallecano and an unusual line spacing, with the center of the field short-circuited, were the main causes of the drought, that the forwards received few balls in conditions, Espanyol doomed to a more direct game than the associative football that began to unfold with the debut in Second. The slump may be a one-day flower, but the figures are cutting, since the parakeet set had averaged up to 9.6 shots per game in the first five matchdays. And almost half, a half of 4.6, between the three suits. Everything that was missing in Vallecas.
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* Data updated as of October 19, 2020
By matches, it was undoubtedly the premiere against him Albacete the greatest display of might, with 20 kicks in total and six on target, of which three became a goal. Although more finished the bow in Nova Creu Alta, up to seven times, in a siege that only Nico Melamed could materialize in the final stretch. And quite the opposite, a spectacular effectiveness, is what Espanyol experienced in Oviedo: two shots on goal, two goals.
Of the 50 shots of all kinds that the Blue and Whites take in this League, only two occurred against Rayo, with David López and Raúl de Tomás as protagonists, and they did not translate into danger because they were diverted. But it is not a question of aim, but of elaboration. Even strategy. In Vallecas they suffered a warning. This Wednesday Mirandés arrives at the RCDE Stadium so that Espanyol has a golden opportunity to remedy it.