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0-0: Equality
Espanyol returns to the competition with a draw against Alavés
Espanyol added a new point to their credit after a goalless draw against Alavés. The blue and white team could not overcome a rival that is fighting to get away from the relegation and that reached Cornellà-El Prat after losing their last three games. The team of Quique Sánchez Flores had their options although they lacked a bit of continuity to his game. The team tried but without the precision or clarity necessary to break their rival.
After the defeat against R. Betis and a weekend of rest, Espanyol returned to the last section of the competition with the intention of starting to climb positions in the standings and finish the course as well as possible. Opposite a Alavés that keeps a comfortable income on the relegation zone, but hoped to break their bad run of results. With Pau in the goal waiting for the recovery of Diego Lopez, Sanchez Flores made several changes in his lineup: Victor Sanchez returned to the right side, Darder regained his place in midfield, while Jurado and Sergio Garcia also returned to first eleven after some days out. Many changes to try to see the best version of the team.
Espanyol had possession of the ball for much of the first half, while the Alavés only tried to surprise in the counterattacks. The team from Vitoria wanted to take advantage of the speed of their offensive players, although the blue and white defence controlled the visiting attackers quite well. The match took place in barely half a field and neither team stepped on the area and almost all the attempts came from the long distance. Pau was very safe on all occasions to stop the different pitches. Those of Quique Sánchez Flores were not too successful in the final meters and the only shot between the three clubs did not reach the edge of the break. Aarón, after an excellent pass from Gerard, was very close to score, but between Pacheco and the crossbar they avoided the goal.
He did not have to finish very happy Sánchez Flores with his team and, after the break, gave entry to Piatti and Melendo by Jurado and Granero. The team had something more spark but the same difficulties to create scoring opportunities. The '14' perico was the one who had the most vision and his boots were born the two clearest options to score. The first, a shot from Piatti that Pacheco sent to corner with troubles and the second, a powerful shot from Gerard that went wide. Pau answered Alavés with a kick from Guidetti cleared to corner with insurance.
The minutes were consumed without any team finding the formula to score. The failures and inaccuracies were a constant in the two teams that seemed to take the point.