Although it seems obvious, Espanyol matches last 90 minutes. And more. Especially in the last few days. The parakeet set has become a specialist in deciding the results –Now, for the better and not so long ago, for the worse– in the final stages, in those moments when there is no room for maneuver to react. In moments of heart attack. Nobody should change the channel before the referee decrees it because, probably, everything is about to happen: “do not leave yet, there is still more.”
Espanyol's current three-game winning streak couldn't be understood without those final minutes. The apotheosis occurred on Sunday,nte Sporting de Gijón, when Wu Lei scored 1-0 for the parrots in 88 'and Darder ruled in 97'. But the team of Vicente Moreno did not walk much further from that section against him Cartagena, last Wednesday, when he came back with goals from Nico Melamed in 75 ', by Raúl de Tomás from a penalty in 80' and with the icing on the cake by Javi Puado in 85 '. Y in front of SaragossaAlthough Óscar Gil had advanced to Espanyol a little earlier, in 70 ', he put the finishing touch on Darder in 83'.
Nine points out of nine that were forged in a phase of the matches that Espanyol dominates to perfection. 28 percent of his goals, seven, have been scored in the last quarter of an hour. And another 20 percent, five, have arrived between minutes 61 and 75. The Blue and Whites are a team of second parts, in which he has scored 16 of his 25 goals. Those of Vicente Moreno mature the games, tire their rivals and enforce their wardrobe fund.
But it is not necessary to go back many days to run into the adverse effect. The Girona came back at the RCDE Stadium with goals in the 83rd and 88th minutes, while the Fuenlabrada he tied a penalty in the 87th minute. Definitely, five of the last six Espanyol games –Except for Butarque, against Leganés– se have decided in those minutes of ordago in which football becomes irreversible.