Bernardo, Wu Lei and Pacheco revive Espanyol

The RCDE Stadium received the warm-up of the Espanyol players to the rhythm of 'Welcome to the jungle'. Thundering, hollow, in the silence of an empty bleacher. Welcome to the Jungle. The song with a more paradoxical message at the beginning of the new football.

Or not. Because, even without fans, this final leg of LaLiga can only be a jungle. For the parakeets, because only with a victory could they continue to dream of permanence. For Alavés, and apart from the fact that he cannot lose his way in a championship of two days a week, because he confirmed in the person of Pacheco that any isolated move can complicate your life. Or promote that in two hours Espanyol get as many victories at home as they had in the entire pre-pandemic season.

That the party could go more of goalkeepers than of the usual gunners was already guessed in the previous one. On the one hand, Oier would debut in place of the suspended Diego López. On the other hand, Raúl de Tomás and Lucas Pérez joined with annoyance to the loss already known to Joselu. Neither fans nor scorers.

And that new football, the three months without competition or errors of concentration without more cost Pacheco. Already in the first action of the match, the Alavés goalkeeper was in trouble that almost cost him a goal. And in the second clear, in the 19 th minute, he directly went crazy when he blocked a long ball that was on his way to Wu Lei with his hands. González Fuertes did not think about it, and that did not have the public squeezing him: direct red.

The expulsion precipitated the second premiere of a goalkeeper during the afternoon. The of Robert like babazorro. The keeper who at Espanyol barely played 12 games in three years. Warming up perhaps lacked. You win, surely not.

Roberto became Wu Lei's worst nightmare, who after scoring an illegal (and invalidated) goal with his hand, ran into the goal three times, plus a fourth by Embarba to the Chilean average. But even in the midst of his inspiration he could not but succumb to the siege of Espanyol in the first half addition.

The Alavés, who had sacrificed Edgar and kept his defense of five with ten, saw the spaces inevitably appear behind. And, after two attempts in a set piece action, in the first half added, Embarba served a center for Bernardo to hunt him with his shoulder and place the ball away even from Roberto.

The first part ended with a goal and the second started with a goal. With Wu Lei again face to face with Roberto. But, this time, with all the time in the world for the Chinese to decide his shot, after a filtered pass from Embarba, the assistant in the afternoon.

He gave the 2-0 air to those of Abelardo, like someone who strips off his mask when he gets home, and the third one could arrive in a pile of Marc Roca that, who else, Roberto blocked in the stock of the stick.

With Alavés knocked out, Abelardo withdrew the protagonists of the second goal and entered two that would normally be indisputable starters, Darder and Raúl de Tomás. The latter had it in the absence of 20 minutes before the Babazorro goalkeeper who, as almost always, was attentive.

Garitano recomposed his scheme to a 4-4-1 and Espanyol lost ground, to the point that Oier's debut ceased to be merely testimonial. However, it was Espanyol who again approached the goal. Primero De Tomás with a shot at close range. And then, with a drop of his that Darder tried to adjust to the post but sent out, two minutes from the end.

Relive Espanyol, that after three months circling his distance of six points with the permanence is located in an afternoon provisionally three, pending the rest of the day. In command, Abelardo, who has already worked the miracle with Alavés. And the babazorros precisely stagnate, as if this game had not happened after playing it almost entirely with ten, knowing that they have left margin bullets in the chamber.

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Abelardo: “It is an important victory to believe”

Espanyol coach, Abelardo Fernández, He said this Saturday after the game against Alavés at RCDE Stadium (2-0) that he is an “important to believe” win in the options of the team to be “in the fight” for the permanence between now and the end of the season.

The coach highlighted the hunger of the squad before this meeting. “Before Pacheco's expulsion, the team was already seen with tremendous enthusiasm. We have been plugged in, aggressive, generating occasions and with patience. We have won, but this has just started “he reflected.

Abelardo insisted on the difficulty of Espanyol's commitment and growth. “Alavés was a very tough opponent, which makes you play to the limit. We have been very focused, but this has only just begun. We are going to have a hard time and this gives us morale for the next one “, he added.

On the other hand, the coach appreciated the fact of playing without an audience at the RCDE Stadium: “We had already played three games in the stadium with this situation. Nobody wants this, but it benefits the coach because the players listen to you and they also listen to each other. But we remember the hobby. “

In this sense, Abelardo believes that the team is “doing well” with the coronavirus protocols. “We have been working with a mask and gloves for several weeks, taking our temperature and taking tests. Tomorrow we will go through tests again because in 72 hours we will play against Getafe,” he recalled. -EFE

Garitano: “With one less, everything has gone to waste”

Alavés coach, Asier Garitano, stated after the defeat against Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium that “with one less, everything has gone to waste” and he recognized that after the expulsion of his goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco, his team “has cost both physically and mentally.”

The technician explained that the meeting was “a difficult scenario” for them. “We did not know how we were going to be able to do and Espanyol have been solvent. Joselu and Lucas could not come, but I am not going to look for excuses in which important players were missing, “he reflected.

Garitano analyzed the difficulties of his team after Pacheco's expulsion in the 19th minute. “We have been left without the possibility of attacking and they have been more comfortable. We have suffered a lot to finish the plays”, commented the coach, who praised the performance of substitute goalkeeper Roberto.

The coach also confessed that everything that surrounded the game due to the circumstances forced by the coronavirus was a “little mystery”. “The trip, the hotel, the protocols, not having people in the stands or not having made friendlies. During the game we have not been bad until the expulsion, then everything has cost us”, said. -EFE