Diego Lopez: The Espanyol goalkeeper did not have much impact on the match. He barely had to intervene beyond blocking two boardings that ended in a corner, while he could not do anything at 1-0 nor did Rayo generate more problems. Although the entire game was angry and yelled at his teammates, the team was not too plugged in.
Aleix Vidal: He was the worst player on the field. The side did not have the day, which occupies a demarcation for which he was not signed. Surpassed by Álvaro and Fran García at all times, weak in the melee and even booked for another action in which he showed that he was not activated in the game. His incidence at 1-0 summarizes his game.
Sergi Gomez: Soft on the 1-0 play, when he goes to the crossing due to the umpteenth mistake by Aleix Vidal but is not able to take the ball against Álvaro García. In the first half he had to drain water from that right side and defended the area well, but his safety collapsed in the second half, beyond the goal. He was substituted in the 60th minute.
Leandro Cabrera: Rayo was clear that the ball had to pass through Cabrera’s boots, whose first two passes reflected his difficulty in getting the ball played and the success of the Madrid players. Without fluency, little by little the parakeet team was unraveling, and Cabrera initialed that lack of enthusiasm with an own goal at 1-0 in an action in which he did not measure well. His clearances were not successful either.
Pedrosa: The best defender of the Blue and Whites, who was only surpassed once by Isi in the first half in a genius of the Rayista left-hander. In attack he put up to three dangerous centers that only found Puado as a finisher.
Keidi Bare: The Albanian was the most inspired midfielder until his replacement. He collaborated in the creation giving security passes, always in more recovery tasks. He helped the Blue and White team contain the rejection zones and the second plays. He was replaced by Loren with 1-0 in the 60th minute.
Herrera: At 10 minutes he hit Darder. Bad omen for a meeting in which Venezuelan was wrong. Although he was present in all phases of the game, it was difficult for him to retreat in the second half and with the ball he was not fine either. The team improved with the entry of Morlanes, who gave it more criteria.
Adrián Embarba.
AFP7 via Europa Press
Darder: With a bandage on his head, and some staples, the midfielder was the spitting image of the Espanyol match. He ended up substituted but previously they endangered his changes of orientation mainly looking for Pedrosa, but he could not hold a good game either, reducing Espanyol from the collective.
Embarrass: The end was again marked. Espanyol’s right wing, which he had to defend, was a highway for Rayo, who took advantage of it at all times. Vicente Moreno even had to change his band. In attack, the player who was returning home was not able to overflow or shoot at goal.
RdT: The forward started with level technical actions, playing very far from the center-forward zone. A tunnel, an impossible control and some dribbles that avoided the aggressiveness of the Ray. A header in the 24th was taken by Dimitrevski when the goal was already called. In the second half he despaired and offered his worst face.
Puado: He had the clearest chance of the match. In the second half, in a play spun by Melamed and RdT, the Barcelona player finished too crossed with the inside of the foot. He worked defensively and tried driving on the inside, but got lost in the tangle of Lightning. In the first half he had another shot that went to corner.
Calero: He left for Sergi Gómez and already completed the 1-0. Defensively he was solid and with the ball he gave more judgment to the attacks in a context that was also favorable for him.
Loren: He was about to extend his streak after Wednesday’s hat-trick in the Cup, but Catena anticipated calmly and solvency.
Morlanes: It must be a starter in this Espanyol. The midfielder changed the game against Rayo who crouched down. But with the former Villarreal player on the field, the team got organized with the ball and created more danger.
Melamed: He brought overflow and from his boots the best occasion of the meeting was born. Good minutes, like the ones he had in the Cup, number 21.