The passion and ambition of youth was stronger and Villarreal B, full of kids, clearly surpassed Espanyol. It was a black night for the blue and white. Luis García clearly erred in his approach, and when he rectified the improvement it was not enough. Espanyol, a big favorite for promotion, lost the lead and something else in this match, because Pol Lozano left with a very worrying muscle injury.
The blue and white team started completely confused. Luis García changed the system, opting for a defense of five and depopulated the midfield. In addition, he gave Nico Melamed a rest, with physical discomfort after the weekday. The test was a complete disaster.
The nightmare began with the opening whistle. Ontiveros shot from the edge of the area and Pacheco had to intervene in a hurry. Del Moral finished off his rebound one meter from the goal line against the saving leg of the blue and white goalkeeper. Still in shock, Espanyol was not on the field. Villarreal B's pressure on an unguarded midfield caused countless losses in the delivery, with Pol Lozano and Cabrera being the most punished.
Before the fifteenth minute of the match, Ontiveros tried it again, this time from the center of the field. Pacheco had to do his best to send what would have been the goal of the day to a corner. And the third time was the charm, because in the subsequent corner Cabrera and Calero fell asleep and Lekovic beat Pacheco from below.
Even though his team was dying, Luis García did not correct it and Villarreal B continued doing its thing. Ten minutes later, Pascual took advantage of poor control by Aguado to score the second goal with a shot placed with his left foot from outside the area. For the third time this season, the first away from home, Espanyol conceded two goals in the first half. But unlike the other occasions, the result was completely fair. Ontiveros had the third in another powerful shot that went high. The groguet team's recital was complete.
However, as has been usual so far in the championship, this Espanyol does not understand good or bad moments. His offensive potential is such that at any moment he can hurt his opponent. In La Cerámica, when he was on the canvas, Puado found a rebound in the area and closed the gap, still before the break. He could have been losing by four or five goals against Espanyol, but at halftime he arrived completely alive and what was a nightmare was already less scary.
At the restart the changes came, too late. Melamed entered the game and returned the defense of four. Suddenly, Espanyol was once again the protagonist with the ball and was capable of overwhelming its rival. Without lucidity, but regularly reaching the decisive area of the field. Despite the better feelings, a shot by Braithwaite was the most relevant thing in attack.
The one who delivered the knockout blow was the Villarreal reserve team. Once again Pascual, a 20-year-old midfielder who has already made his debut in the First Division, scored with a curling shot entering the area.
Step behind the blue and white team, which has to face Valladolid, Leganés, Sporting and Eibar in the next few days.
Villarreal B: Iker Alvarez, Lanchi (Tasende 80), Espigares, Lekovic (Hugo Pérez 90), Romero, Del Moral, Carlo, Alti (Requena 59), Ontiveros, Forés (Ferrari 81) and Pascual (Diego Collado 90). Coach: Miguel Alvarez.
Espanyol: Pacheco, El Hilali, Calero, Sergi Gómez (Melamed 46), Cabrera, Ramón (Brian Olivan 46), Pol Lozano (Expósito 64), Aguado (Gragera 74), Puado, Pere Milla (Keita Baldé 74) and Braithwaite. Coach: Luis García.
Stadium: La Cerámica.
Referee: De la Fuente Ramos (c. Cast.-Leonese).
Cards: Edu Expósito, Carlo Adriano, Calero, Brian Oliván, Keita Baldé.
Goals: 1-0, Lekovic (13). 2-0, Pascual (26). 2-1, Handful (41). 3-1 Pascual (70).
