From expectation he went to disappointment in the stands. The illusion turned into a mixture of frustration and anger. And from the artificial happiness created in recent days, Espanyol began to wake up with another slap of reality. The feared relegation continues to haunt a team for which the change of face on the bench was not enough to offer an improved version against Athletic.
Two goals from the Williams brothers knocked out the blue and whites, who reaped their fifth straight defeat, and ruined Luis García's debut at an RCDE Stadium with more fans than usual who turned to the coach. The lack of bite, the defensive gaps and, ultimately, the few football arguments that the parrots have shown this season buried the optimism brought by the Asturian with a stroke of the pen.
The new Spanish coach was surpassed by the one who was his teacher, Ernesto Valverde. The "brushstrokes" that the Oviedo player promised for his debut were the good treatment of the ball, even playing from behind with the goalkeeper, and the preference for protecting the defense rather than pressing heavily forward. Neither of these two aspects contributed from the beginning so that the locals had enough "personality" that Luis García demands.
The initial stages were an insubstantial guerrilla war that did not translate into any dangerous rapprochement. The visitors, who arrived after losing on Tuesday in extra time in the Cup semifinals, showed an intensity that led to an inconspicuous match script, with constant contacts and fouls. Athletic did not need any more to deal the first blow to the locals in minute 22, at which time De Marcos found Iñaki Williams with a long ball. The winger beat Óscar Gil, out of position on the left wing, and beat Pacheco with a strong cross shot.
At a disadvantage, the nerves arrived, both in the stands with whistles and on the field, where Gragera first with a slip and Cabrera later conceded two chances for the visitors. The impatience of the parrot parish turned for a moment into euphoria with Braithwaite's goal on the stroke of halftime, who beat Unai Simón almost without an angle, but Munuera Montero, at the request of the VAR and after going to the monitor, annulled the goal by previous hand of a Joselu disconnected throughout the game. It would have been the blue and whites' first shot between the sticks in the initial 45 minutes.
After the break, the rojiblancos insistently prowled the three rival sticks, especially in a shot from Guruzeta that Pacheco deflected, while Espanyol was unable to braid a counterattack, time and time again inaccurate in the pass. Far from reacting, the parrots were powerless to receive more occasions until they accepted the sentence with resignation, without a hint of rebellion. Pacheco avoided Iñaki Williams' double, but the goalkeeper couldn't do anything against the quality of his little brother.
Nico Williams, in the news this week for the insults he received on social networks, entered the field in the 69th minute and it only took him five minutes to destroy the locals. He left three rivals in a play that he did not finish off on the Guruzeta goal line and in the next action he put the ball in the top corner with a shot from the left corner of the area. Impossible for Pacheco.
With a quarter of an hour to go, silence prevailed in the stands while a dead blue and white team roamed the field without a plan for the misfortune of a Luis García who shouted in the band until surrendering to the evidence with the whistle final. Not even Darder's goal in the 90th minute, after picking up a rejection in a corner, changed the feeling of a Espanyol with a lot of homework to do and a lot of urgency that ended with ten due to the expulsion of Aleix Vidal for protesting.
Consult all the results of the Santander League.
Spanish RCD: Pacheco; Rubén Sánchez (Aleix Vidal, min.46), Cabrera, Montes, Óscar Gil (Calero, min.77); Gragera (Denis Suárez, min.83), Edu Expósito (Nico Melamed, min.57); Puado (Vini Souza, min.83), Darder, Braithwaite and Joselu.
2 - Athletic: Unai Simon; De Marcos (Paredes, min.89), Vivian, Iñigo Martínez (Yeray, min.79), Yuri; Dani García (Ander Herrera, min.79), Vesga; Iñaki Williams, Sancet (Muniain, min.68), Berenguer (Nico Williams, min.68) and Cruzeta.
Goals: 0-1, min.22: Iñaki Williams; 0-2, min.75: Nico Williams; 1-2, min.90: Darder;
Referee: Munuera Montero (Andalusian committee). He sent off Aleix Vidal (min.91 and min.91). He admonished De Marcos (min.21), Dani García (min.30), Sancet (min.44), Gragera (min.53), Óscar Gil (min.59), Calero (min.78),
Incidents: match corresponding to the twenty-eighth day of LaLiga Santander played at the RCDE Stadium in front of 24,903 spectators.
