When the swell was deeper and the wind was blowing furiously, in an absolutely desperate situation, Espanyol was brave again, almost reckless, and sailed through the darkness to a good port for many minutes in Pizjuán. But once again defensive errors with names and surnames, incomprehensible and inexcusable, weighed down the blue and white team, which in a horrible ending received a very cruel blow, that of an undeserved defeat. Sevilla took advantage of the reductions to leave Espanyol three points from relegation with five games to go. Although not impossible, the path of salvation is very twisted.
A defeat that is something else. A knife to the depths of the team's faith. Espanyol had done everything well, winning at half-time on one of the most impressive pitches in the League. But when the gasoline of his plan A ran out, the second unit proved again not to be up to the task and conditioned everything.
He advocated an eleven but reckless, very brave Luis García. The audacity was to repeat the double pivot formed with Darder and Denis Suárez. The coach was trying to boost the confidence acquired with the victory against Getafe in one of the most tricky fields in the championship. He had no choice after the victories of Almería and Getafe the day before. Bizarre bet that should be applauded because if that road to salvation really exists, allying with the ball is the most rational way to achieve it.
With each game that he adds behind him, the new coach leaves Diego Martínez, predecessor in his position, in a worse place. From the third Division he came to show that this team had more football than had been seen in almost 30 games. What other idea was possible without necessarily obtaining worse results. On his way, that of salvation, he has managed to make this team reconcile with football, hard and fast and in record time. Something extremely difficult after so much vulgarity.
And it has given talent the prominence it deserves. Darder's, Denis Suárez's and, above all of them, Nico Melamed's. "He is not a promise but a reality," said the coach in the preview, who has chosen to place him in the midfielder, his true position. The impact of the one from Casteldefells in Pizjuán was once again extraordinary. Undetectable between the lines, the best chances for the team were born at his feet. A delight to see how he reads the game and how accurately he executes it.
Espanyol came out bravely into the game, emboldened by the push of their coach and at the first change Puado scared with a shot and an arrival in which he did not trust the defense's failure. He tried to discuss possession with a whole Sevilla, the blue and white team, but soon began to suffer in the recovery and the people from Seville found spaces in transitions. Thus came a one-on-one from Suso in which Pacheco avoided the first.
More aggressive and intense without the ball in the middle, Sevilla lived comfortably for a good part of the first half, until controversy took over the game. First in Bryan Gil's goal, which Alberola Rojas conceded at the request of the VAR after signaling offside. Espanyol claimed some hands from Gueye and a foul on Brian Oliván.
With the bravest goal against was the blue and white team. He started playing and playing and that's how Rekik's own goal came, also annulled in the first instance due to the possible influence on Joselu's play, offside. After seeing it on the screen, the referee returned the error to Espanyol and awarded the tie, again celebrated on a delayed basis.
The tie coincided with Suso's injury, and Sevilla lost their senses in the last third of the field. The party was already another. Espanyol was growing and the locals could not find tools to stalk Pacheco. The break was threatening when Espanyol completed the comeback. Darder changed the game with a 40-meter pass. Oliván enabled Puado, and he released the rage that he has accumulated in recent days to put the ball in the opposite squad of the Dmitrovic goal.
For the third consecutive game, the fourth in the entire season, Espanyol reached the break ahead on the scoreboard. Not even Mendilibar's Sevilla, who had only lost one game out of the last eight, could use a much more intelligent team to understand what the game needed at all times.
Espanyol suddenly defended with the ball. He lengthened plays to prevent Sevilla from overwhelming him. And it came with danger, as in a shot from Joselu to Oliván's center that Dmitrovic stopped. Sevilla had it in a header from Ocampos. The siege of the locals grew by accumulation, thus Acuña's shot came inside the area that went to the corner and in the continuation Vini Souza, who had entered minutes before for Darder, came out again photographed with an absurd penalty on Gueye. Once again, an individual error by the Brazilian, who stepped on his rival, ruined the formidable work of the team.
But Sevilla wanted more and the Blue and Whites had less and less strength. They tried to find some counterattack in the midst of the absolute dominance of the locals, with much more gasoline. Without Darder on the field, the team had a hard time leaving. Luis García tried to protect at least the point with the changes. Ocampos ran into the crossbar before Gueye scored the third after a mistake by Keidi Bare, who claimed a foul at the origin of the play.
3 - Seville: Dmitrovic; Jesus Navas, Gudelj, Rekik, Telles (Coin, m.46); Pape Gueye, Rakitic; Suso (Ocampos, m.32), Oliver Torres (Bade, m.90), Bryan Gil (Montiel, m.76); and Rafa Mir (En-Nesyri, m.46).
2 - Spanish: Fernando Pacheco; Óscar Gil, César Montes, Sergi Gómez, Cabrera; Denis Suárez (Edu Expósito, m.81), Sergi Darder (Vini Souza, m.60), Brian Oliván (Rubén Sánchez, m.66); Puado, Joselu and Nico Melamed (Bare, d.81).
Goals: 1-0, M.24: Bryan Gil. 1-1, M.32: Rekik, own goal. 1-2, M.43: Fist. 2-2, M.69: Ocampos, penalty. 3-2, M.88: Pape Gueye.
Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas (Castilian Manchego Committee). He admonished the local Bryan Gil (m.47) and the visitors Denis Suárez (m.62) and Vini Souza (m.91).
Incidents: Match of the thirty-third day of LaLiga Santander played at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán stadium before 35,391 spectators.
