A team that aspires to dominate the Second Division, such as Espanyol, must boast of scorers, and that is what Luis García’s team did again against Cartagena, bottom of the category. Against Levante it was Puado (4) who shone, against Racing de Ferrol it was Braithwaite (5). On this occasion, Pere Milla, the third leg of a formidable trident, was revealed, with his fourth goal in the League putting the victory on track that the Dane once again sealed in the final stretch of the match. With these three points, the Perico team seems to reach the desired cruising speed, and with the defeat of Leganés it is the new leader of the Second Division.
The start was a good example of what Espanyol is capable of away from home. Only a couple of minutes had been played when Puado shot wide without opposition from the penalty spot. The ability of Luis García’s men in front of the rival goal continues to grow, although sometimes it is aim that is lacking.
That action intimidated Cartagena, who little by little grew in the game until they were able to dangerously reach Pacheco’s goal. However, this Espanyol does not understand bad moments and in a play through the center Puado found Pere Milla and found the goal with a great shot from the small area.
Half an hour into the match, Omar El Hilali alerted the referee that he was receiving racist insults and he activated the existing protocol so that a message asking for respect and censoring racism and xenophobia was shown on the video scoreboards.
After that painful incident, the game declined. Melamed had the second after the break, but Umaro was also able to tie with a shot to the crossbar. Shortly after, another mistake by Pacheco was about to give Ortuño the equalizer, but the goalkeeper recovered in time.
Espanyol knew how to close the game by stopping a rival in great need and in the added time Braithwaite gave the sentence to a pass from Puado. These three points put the blue and white team where they want to be, at the top of the standings.
