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1-0: Champions!
Espanyol win the league title of a championship that was contended until the last second, and in which they earned promotion with four games left until the end of the season
In the future, Espanyol will look back on this year in the second division as being one of the most demanding seasons they had to face in over 100 years of the club’s history. Considered as the favourites in every match, this led them to pull out all the stops against rivals that were determined to beat them as the league favourites. This was the only way for the white and blues to earn promotion with such a solid reputation, and with four matches left to play. But none of the matches were easy. And neither was tonight’s match going to be easy in Santo Domingo. Despite dominating and setting the pace of the match, and having up to four really clear opportunities in the first 45 minutes, the white and blues ended the first half a goal down after the only shot at Diego López. It was like a rerun of what happened in stadiums like Sabadell, Girona or Almeria. Control, opportunities, but the ball didn’t end up in the back of the net. RDT came close within the first 60 seconds, and again later in a really clear effort in the ninth minute. Dimata’s attempt was to follow and RDT had another chance a little later. Even a long range effort by Pol Lozano troubled Dani Jiménez before the break, but the ball flew just over the bar.
Alcorcón made the most of the lead and took care of detaining the second half. Not one play lasted over a minute. The match became untidy, jammed and there was no way to get round it. In fact, the team was never comfortable in any of the matches this season in which the other side played to physically exhaust their opponents with continual contact. And that was how the rest of the match transpired. During those minutes, Dimata’s shot troubled the home end, and shortly after that, a superb passing move ended with David López's shot that scuffed the post. Those were the best opportunities in a match which will be remembered, nonetheless, as the one that led to the league title.