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1-1: A point of rage

An inexistent penalty leaves Espanyol without the victory

Espanyol was near to the victory against Málaga but a penalty before the half time changed a match that was under control. Constantin’s Galca team got in front thanks to a great goal of Diop but before half time Málaga tied with an inexistent penalty. In the second half Espanyol defended very serious to obtain a great point.

Espanyol started with the ideas very clear. The white and blue players showed themselves very strong in defence despite they didn’t get many options in the attack. However, Duarte was able to force a corner and Diop with a great header put the team in the lead. The midfielder scored his second consecutive goal.

Espanyol felt comfortable on the pitch. Duarte tried to increase the lead in two opportunities but the defender wasn’t able to take advantage of a pair of good attacks of the team. Even though Málaga started to have more offensive presence, the truth is that Espanyol was able to defend with order and didn’t suffer much. Gerard Moreno tried to catch as many balls as he could to give some air to the team and the white and blue squad was in control of the match.

However, everything changed before half time. The referee saw a penalty where nobody else and the locals were able to draw the match. Absolutely unfair for Espanyol that deserved more after their performance in the first half.

The two teams seem to be happy with the point and during the second half defence took over the offense. Málaga just disturbed Pau in a few shots well saved by the goalkeeper. Espanyol protested a penalty committed over Víctor Sánchez that the referee didn’t see as he didn’t consider penalty a fault on Óscar Duarte when the match was finishing. In the last minutes Pau saved Espanyol with a great save.

Good point for Espanyol that will try to carry on with their good spell next Saturday against Atlético de Madrid.