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1-0: Vacuum

A goal from Isi, in the 88th minute, thwarted the blue and whites' hard work in Vallecas

Vallecas, with or without an audience, continues to be a scene linked to intense football, relentless fighting, pure street football and mud. And Rayo calls on that indomitable team spirit to maintain the winning streak in their stadium that began in early March. Possibly for this reason, Espanyol was more cautious from the beginning. Sensing the local scuffles, the blue and whites banded together to hinder the strong attack that Iraola proposes to his players as soon as they have the ball.

With these guidelines, it is not surprising that the game was locked from the first minute and that, until the end, it provided minimal opportunities. The defenders imposed themselves on the forwards. This is how graphically Vicente Moreno summarised things to explain a game that did not see even one second of pause.

For many minutes, Espanyol had a hard time reaching Dimitrievski's goal and Rayo had no choice but to try from afar, desperately hoping that a rebound could assist him.

Control. Pure control. Nobody wanted to lose position. Nobody wanted to take a risk. Nobody took the game lightly. Everything was tension and pressure to hinder the opposition.

And so it continued in the second half, although Espanyol took a step forward and, little by little, started to control the game. Neither RDT nor Puado could shoot a Vargas centre shortly after the game restarted. Puado and Calero, minutes later, shot at the back of the net in a muddled play that ended up being disallowed. It is still not known if this was due to the forward's illegal position or a goalkeeper foul.

The game then entered a phase of alternatives that were diluted in the final metres by rain. It seemed to be the definitive trend, which would continue to happen. And when the game languished, when it seemed fixed, a centre from the right was shot strong and tight by Isi to put the locals ahead, just before going into injury time. The blue and whites' determined final attack was met with the very populated local defence, which multiplied to hold the result.