Fatal carambola. cruel ending. Hard outcome. Perverse condemnation. A jug of cold water in minute 93. A goodbye when the goal was closer. Come back and stick your head out with a dignified performance to end up sunk, with nothing at stake. From winning and earning one last chance to losing the category. Espanyol went from having permanence in their hand to being officially a Second team at Mestalla, without having to wait for the last day. The victories of Getafe and Cádiz made the 2-2 useless.
A goal from Valencia sent him to Segunda, although surely the Espanyol players did not know it at that time. Enduring the result gave him life, clung to one last chance, made him dependent on himself. And so it was for much of the second half after goals from Montes and Braithwaite. Espanyol defended themselves, fought, fought and left their skin. But Samuel Lino's goal condemned him in the final stretch.
Óscar Gil was defeated and knelt down. Joselu bit his shirt. Captain Darder did not even have the strength to greet the 1,000 parakeet fans and he burst into tears. Braithwaite, arms akimbo, did not know where to look. Montes looked at the sky in search of answers. And Cabrera was petrified. Luis García quickly got into the locker room. They were all the image of grief.
A glance at the team chosen by Luis García was enough to make sure that the work was done late, that in January the squad had to be corrected in key positions. In the Mestalla final they made up three winter signings (Pacheco under the sticks, César Montes in the backbone of the defense and Denis Suárez in the engine room) for only two in the summer: Joselu and Brian Oliván. The reinforcements arrived too late.
The Asturian coach surprised by returning to the scheme of the three centrals that gave him such a bad result in the derby against Barça. And the problem that was already seen then was repeated: Espanyol had a terrible time having the ball. Without being able to defend themselves with the ball, the consequence was that Valencia gained meters very easily.
Already in the first minute it was seen that Darder, acting as a pivot, could not stop Almeida and that he had to need it. It was just the first of many bad individual decisions. Denis Suárez and Puado dribbled in tricky areas and lost the ball, Kluivert devastated Óscar Gil in the race to steal his wallet and Montes saw an unnecessary yellow card for insisting on kicking Lato. The bad start and the initial nerves of the parrots were an invitation for an extra motivated Valencia.
The locals did not need the presence of the 1,600 fans that fit in the closed Kempes stands, who served the first of his three game bans for racist insults against Real Madrid player Vinícius. “Respect for our fans. Amunt Valencia” and “Together against racism”, read a large banner that hung in the empty area, where the flags were down. However, Mestalla, with all the available tickets sold, catharsis with all that anger and indignation against the committees (“Corruption in the Federation”, sounded several times) and the property of Lim (the “Peter, go now” was not lacking ). While on the pitch, two young homegrown players were in charge and directed, the cerebral Javi Guerra and the sparkling Diego López. It seems nonsense that, especially in the case of Guerra, they have spent more than half a season playing in the Second RFEF.
Espanyol did not go beyond the center of the field and Valencia hovered around the goal until they got it because Pacheco practically gave it to them. The goalkeeper missed a one-handed clearance to Almeida's twisted cross from the left and the ball went straight to the feet of Diego López, who scored on an empty goal.
Incredibly, the goal that Mestalla celebrated so much was the wishbone that Espanyol needed, a team that does not react if it is not seen against the ropes. The three-way tie after losing 0-3 against Atlético is the most extreme example. So seeing themselves below was the wick that ignited the pride and self-esteem that is being the engine of the blue and whites in this final stretch. On the next play Brian Oliván took a great delivery from his lane and César Montes put his head to equalize. The Mexican already opened the way to the impossible match with the colchoneros. This time his goal gave a basic calm to go to the break.
In the booth, Luis García realized that he had to take a step forward and also take advantage of Valencia's nervousness and exaltation, which little by little had gotten into trouble. Braithwaite's input acted as a switch. Espanyol showed that they wanted to go for the victory. Denis Suárez's volley that forced Mamardashvili was the first warning. And then came the prize. Óscar Gil went deep on the right and his cross escaped the Valencia goalkeeper and Braithwaite appeared there, who only had to push his tenth goal in the League. The Dane came back from a game that started badly and that looked very ugly but that Espanyol knew how to turn it around.
And he was even able to increase the advantage with the third in a pumped header shot by Sergi Gómez that Montes combed but the referee annulled it due to a foul by the Mexican in the jump to goalkeeper Mamardashvili. It was time to defend the result and Espanyol began to suffer with Valencia's offense, with all my heart. But when he was closest to taking the victory, when he almost had it, when it was a matter of resisting a few seconds of nothing, in the 93rd minute Lino found himself alone in the front and advanced to unleash an unstoppable whiplash for Pacheco. Luis García's players surrounded Gil Manzano protesting a foul on Braithwaite but the referee, from the VAR, was told that there was nothing punishable. The fatal carambola sent Espanyol to Second in the last breath. The last day in Cornellà will be completely inconsequential. For the second time in the Chen era, the club goes to hell.
Valencia: Mamardashvili, Thierry Correia (Foulquier 62), G. Paulista, Diakhaby, Gayà, Nico González (Hugo Duro 62), Javi Guerra, Lato (Samuel Lino 34), Almeida, Diego López (Cavani 82) and Kluivert. Coach: Ruben Baraja
Espanyol: Pacheco, Óscar Gil, Montes, Sergi Gómez (Calero 92), Cabrera, Oliván (Pedrosa 69), Darder, Denis Suárez (Vinícius Souza 69), Melamed (Braithwaite 46), Puado (Aleix Vidal 84) and Joselu. Coach: Luis Garcia
Stadium: Mestalla (44,141 spectators).
Referee: Gil Manzano (c. Extremadura).
Cards: Yellow to César Montes, Óscar Gil, Aleix Vidal and Braithwaite.
Goals: 1-0 Diego López (38), 1-1 César Montes (40), 1-2 Braithwaite (50), 2-2 Samuel Lino (93).
