Braithwaite’s at the beginning of the season was an unexpected reprieve. The Cornellà crowd forgave the Danish striker’s mistake without even needing to apologize. The long-suffering Perica fans were not wrong in their diagnosis and Braithwaite has since exercised great professionalism and a fierce commitment to his task, that of scoring a goal. Against Racing de Ferrol he scored a double on a leaden night and collaborated in the first place for a victory so necessary that it did not matter how it was achieved. Because the most lucid Espanyol did not appear yesterday, but the rigorous expulsion of Moi Delgado in the first half tipped the balance in his favor. Milla, in the second half, scored again and gave the finishing touch to the A Coruña team and Espanyol regained the direct promotion positions before facing two consecutive exits, to Cartagena and Villarreal.
The staging of Luis García’s team was one of the poorest this year. The Galician team surprised with very close lines and great pressure to block passes between the lines. And until half an hour Espanyol didn’t know what it was like to step into Cantero’s area. Ferrol, on the other hand, generated a lot of danger on Pacheco’s goal. The Catalan Señé was the one who came closest to the goal. First with a shot from the balcony of the area and then with a header that Pacheco brilliantly rejected. Unlike last week, this time the blue and white goalkeeper once again gave the team points.
Nothing promising was happening in the game for Espanyol when the play came that changed everything. Moi Delgado entered with his studs first in a dispute with Omar and hit the ball, but his inertia caused him to leave his studs on the blue and white’s neck. Rigorous expulsion for a direct red card, a real relief for the stands, the team and the parakeet bench.
The game was different. Espanyol had an hour ahead of them to beat a newly promoted team with only ten men and in their own stadium, yesterday with more than 16,500 fans. He got to work immediately and before the break he was rewarded with a huge shot from Braithwaite. Keidi Bare crossed from the right and the Dane rose powerfully and headed the ball from very far to put it where Cantero couldn’t reach.
After the restart, Espanyol put the game to bed very early. First, Pere Milla resolved a one-on-one with quality after a great pass from Pol Lozano. The man from Ilerda scored his second goal this season after the one against Racing de Santander. The intention of the blue and white was always to achieve a great victory, and in a quick transition Braithwaite scored the third with a cross shot from inside the area.
This victory should restore peace of mind to the team, which, supported by the effectiveness of Braithwaite, once again feels great in the Second Division.
