When hardly anyone believed. When it was needed most. When it was only worth winning to be able to continue breathing, Espanyol achieved three vital points in Vallecas. Three points to come back to life, to extend an illusion that hit after hit seemed to be irretrievably moving away. Sergi Darder appeared, heroic once again, to rescue the entity from the gloom and Luis García's men are only one point from salvation, which Getafe scores, with three days still to play. After so much suffering, the miracle does not seem far from impossible. Espanyol depends on itself to be a First Division team next season.
Darder's tears at the conclusion of the game reflected the tension experienced in another dramatic exercise, life or death, in which nerves once again played tricks on many parakeet players. As the pressure increases, the errors are bigger and bigger. In Vallecas, a good dose of fortune was also needed to avoid disaster.
Espanyol got on the absurd roller coaster once again to recreate another show full of reprehensible distractions and embarrassing lack of concentration throughout the entire game. He learned from his mistakes against Barça Luis García, who in another of the most difficult fields in the League, decided to protect his full-backs by withdrawing a central defender, César Montes was the sacrificed one, and reinforcing the wings. I recover the figure of the anchor with the entry of Calero and the team took time to feel comfortable with this new skin.
Iraola's team, which is fighting for Europe, came out to resolve the duel quickly and drowned out the Blue and Whites in a very dizzying first quarter of an hour in Vallecas. Madrid monopolized possession while Espanyol had enough to take the pressure off. Contrary to what Luis García defends, it would take more than twenty minutes to make three passes in a row to the despair of Darder, a sufferer like no other.
Local offensives were almost always directed to the left. The presence of the Garcías (Fran and Álvaro), who make up one of the most dangerous gangs in the League, coincided with that of Óscar Gil, a usual suspect at Espanyol.
The game was thanking the prudence of Espanyol and Rayo began to get stuck. The usual errors in the ball out of the parakeets were penalized in the form of counterattacks, but rarely meant danger to Pacheco's goal. And the first time Denis and Melamed teamed up, the blue and whites discovered a new world. The ball reached Brian Oliván with an advantage on the left wing, and his cross, rejected by Darder, sent it to the goal with a dry shot. Espanyol made it easy for once and the captain got away with it, scoring his sixth goal in the championship.
The goal gave Espanyol peace of mind, but the errors at the start never stopped. Sergi Gómez, Calero and Oscar Gil had a terrible afternoon and rarely managed to help their team. In one of those oversights just before the break, the full-back touched the ball with his hand in the area when there was hardly any risk. The ensuing penalty was converted by De Tomás, hypermotivated against his former team. He lost the advantage very soon and the parakeet team very easily.
At the restart, whoever wanted it the most, this time, was Espanyol. Melamed had two free shots in which he did not show the necessary fierceness. In a new spark from the local left wing, Isi finished off the penalty spot without opposition, but the winger sent the ball sky high. In the next action of the match, Darder penalized that error. The captain, immeasurable once again, appeared in the middle and began to overcome rivals. Mixture of pride and talent, the man from Artà stopped in front and sent the ball to the post in a delicious technical gesture. When the opportunity seemed lost, Melamed miraculously appeared there to do the second.
From there, Espanyol defended better despite the desperate harassment of their rival. He disposed of the third Puado in a one-on-one that Vallecas silenced. Until the end, it could not be otherwise, the parakeet team suffered. But this time he denied his bad luck and survived to start rewriting a course ending that seemed disastrous.
1 - Rayo Vallecano: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Catena, Lejeune, Fran Garcia; Comesaña, Pathe Ciss (Unai Lopez, m.73); Isi (Andres Martin, m.86), Trejo (Falcao, m.73), Alvaro Garcia (Pozo, m.86); and Raoul de Thomas (Camel, m.67).
2 - Spanish: Pacheco; Óscar Gil, Cabrera, Calero (Bare, m.67), Sergi Gómez (César Montes, m.76), Brian Oliván; Denis Suárez, Sergi Darder (Edu Expósito, m.88), Melamed (Vini de Souza, m.88), Puado; and Joselu.
Goals: 0-1: M.23 Darder; 1-1: M.41 Raúl de Tomás; 1-2: M.59 Nico Melamed.
Referee: Alexander Hernandez Hernandez (Las Palmas Committee). He warned Trejo (40), Iraola (58) and Catena (70), of the Lightning; and Luis Garcia (20) and Cabrera (39), from Espanyol.
Incidents: match corresponding to day 35 of the Santander League played at the Vallecas stadium before some 14,000 spectators.
