When hardly anyone believed in it. When it was needed most. When it was only worth winning to be able to keep breathing, Espanyol got three vital points in Vallecas. Three points to return to life, to prolong an illusion that seemed to be irretrievably slipping away blow after blow. Sergi Darder appeared, heroic once again, to rescue the entity from the penumbra and Luis GarcÃa’s are only one point away from salvation, which is marked by Getafe, with three days still to play. After so much grief, the miracle does not seem at all impossible. Espanyol, in any case, is still not relying on itself to be a First Division team next season.
Darder’s tears at the end of the match reflected the tension experienced in another dramatic, life-and-death exercise in which nerves once again played tricks on many Pericos players. As the pressure increases, the errors become larger and larger. Vallecas also needed good doses of fortune to avoid disaster.
Espanyol got on the rollercoaster of the absurd once again to recreate another performance full of reprehensible distractions and embarrassing lack of concentration throughout the match. He learned from his mistakes against Barça Luis GarcÃa, who in another of the most difficult fields in the League decided to protect his full-backs by withdrawing a central player (César Montes was sacrificed) and strengthening the wings. He regained the figure of the anchor with the entrance of Calero and the team took time to feel at ease with this new skin.
Iraola’s team, which is fighting for Europe, went out to quickly resolve the duel and drowned the white-and-blues in a very dizzying first quarter of an hour in Vallecas. The Madrid players monopolized possession while Espanyol had a lot of work to do to take the pressure off them. Contrary to what Luis GarcÃa defends, it would take more than twenty minutes to make three passes in a row to the despair of Darder, a sufferer like no other.
The local offensives were almost always directed from the left. The presence of the GarcÃas (Fran and Ãlvaro), who make up one of the most dangerous gangs in the League, coincided with that of Óscar Gil, a usual suspect at Espanyol.
The match went on thanking Espanyol’s prudence and Rayo started to get stuck. The visitors’ regular errors in the ball’s departure were penalized in the form of counter-attacks, but they rarely meant danger for Pacheco’s goal. And the first time Denis and Melamed teamed up, the white-and-blues discovered a new world. The ball reached Brian Oliván with an advantage on the left side, and his cross, through a rejection, sent him into the Darder goal with a dry shot. Espanyol made it simple for once and the captain got away, scoring his sixth goal in the championship.
Sergi Gómez, Calero and Oscar Gil starred in a terrible afternoon and rarely managed to help their team. In one of these distractions, just before the break, the winger touched the ball with his hand in the area when there was almost no risk. The resulting penalty was transformed by De Tomás, hypermotivated in front of his former team. The white-and-blue team, dressed in pink yesterday, lost the advantage very quickly and very easily.
In the restart, who wanted it more, this time yes, it was Espanyol. Melamed had two free kicks in which he did not show the necessary ferocity. In another flash from the local left wing, Isi finished from the penalty spot without opposition, but the winger sent the ball into the clouds. On the next action of the match, Darder penalized this mistake. The captain, immeasurable once again, appeared in the middle and began to overcome rivals. A mixture of pride and talent, d’Artà slowed down in front and sent the ball to the post in a delicious technical gesture. When the opportunity seemed lost, Melamed miraculously appeared there to score the second goal.
From that moment on, Espanyol defended better despite the desperate harassment of their rival. He disposed of the third Puado in a hand to hand that silenced Vallecas. Until the end, it couldn’t be any other way, the parakeet team suffered. But this time he denied his bad luck and survived to begin rewriting what seemed to be a fateful final.
