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“Today was a step forward”

Pablo Machín reflects on a point gained and thanks the Espanyol fans for their support

The RCD Espanyol coach appeared in the press room to evaluate the point earned at the RCDE Stadium against Getafe. Machín was pleased to end the run of defeats on home turf, despite being not having taken home all three points:

“Today was a step in the right direction, today was the first time we managed to equalize and draw which is always a positive, it shows us that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m delighted with the players’ desire, they have a brilliant attitude and if we have to take advantage of set-pieces to succeed then that is what we will do”.

The game was complicated by a Getafe goal on two minutes, and in this sense Machín recognized that the side had started badly but reflected positively on the reaction of the players: “Evidently we didn’t start well, we were all aware of how important it was to start well, we repeated it many times, how it was a super important game as will be the next game, and the game after that…But if you take away those first five minutes, in terms of work rate we were excellent. We cannot afford to give away any advantage if we can help it, but normally, for a a team in our situation that started how we started, the match would have been a disaster – but we showed spirit, and were competitive”.

“We had a bad first few minutes, but for the rest of the game we were super competitive. We were able to limit their play, and we created a number of dangerous opportunities. We wanted to win today, we would have liked the three points, but we came away with a point and we shouldn’t belittle that”.

The RCD Espanyol coach wanted to thank the crowd of over 20,000 spectators that came to the RCDE Stadium to cheer on the team for their support.

“The fans were the best thing about the game today, they supported the team brilliantly. They didn´t make us nervous at any point at all, which can happen to other teams in similar situations. I want to thank them and I feel bad for not having been able to give them a win, but the team gave everything until the final whistle in order to get it”.