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0-0: Another point
Espanyol and Villarreal draw in a march with not many opportunities
Espanyol got a good point against a hard team like Villarreal. The blue and white team didn’t receive a goal for the first team in the season and got a very important point that has to allow Espanyol to grow up in the future. After the last matches the locals needed to improve in some aspects and they did it.
Quique Sánchez Flores was forced again to make changes in his line up. The coach chose Diego Reyes and Felipe Caicedo to supply the injured Óscar Duarte and Leo Baptistao. In the middle, Marc Roca recovered his place near Javi Fuego and also Hernán Pérez, who was in the bench last week, was in the first eleven.
Espanyol faced a very difficult opponent that arrived to Cornellà-El Prat after winning three matches and drawing another three. Villarreal that lost their qualifying match in the Champions Leave have done a great recover and they have shown that they are a team very hard to win.
The visitants had more the ball while Espanyol tried to defend as best as possible. The white and blue players didn’t suffer much but had problems to get to the other area. Hernán and Reyes had the clearest opportunity for the locals but they didn’t find the way to beat Asenjo. In the other penalty box, Diego López was superb to refuse a clear shot by Castillejo.
In the second half Espanyol started stronger with two good approaches by Caicedo. Hernán Pérez tried with a free kick that Asenjo refused to corner. It was the best chance for the white and blue team that kept trying. Aarón made his debut in the First Division and a few minutes after he served a great ball for Caicedo that seemed foul in the penalty box. However the referee didn’t think it was a penalty.
Espanyol arrived to the last minutes in the same situation as last week. Quique’s boy decided to keep calm and don’t risk too much. Villarreal was in a similar position and seemed to be happy with the point.