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1-1: Fair draw
Espanyol finishes the first round with a draw against Athletic
The blue and white team concluded the first round of the championship with a draw against Athletic Club. Gerard put the hosts ahead in a great individual action, but Williams managed to equalize before the tie. The Espanyolistas had their options during the second half, but the visitors, thanks to their physical strength, ended up pressing. In the aggregate, Laporte and Darder were able to score, but the scoreboard did not move.
After the comeback in the Copa del Rey against Levante, Espanyol returned to LaLiga. And they did it without several of their regulars like Javi Fuego, David Lopez, Sergio Garcia and Pablo Piatti. With the players he had, Quique Sánchez Flores did not have many more options than filling in the gaps to set up the line-up. The match began at low revolutions. Espanyol seemed to give the protagonism to Athletic Club that was the most dominated during the first minutes. Neither of the two contenders wanted to risk too much and, above all, order and tactical rigor prevailed. Well settled the two squads on the pitch, the great difficulty was to find passing lines and clear arrivals to the rival area. Javi Lopez, who returned to the title after resting in the Copa del Rey, started to create opportunities from the right side. However, the clearest, was a counter-attack that ended in left wing where Gerard appeared to put a centre to Baptistao that did not finish off in conditions.
Little by little, the game was gaining in pace and Espanyol got rid of their defensive ties to leave with more danger to the visiting area. The good minutes of local game had their reward with Gerard's goal. The striker stole a ball in the area, fined Laporte and overtook Herrerín. Eighth goal of the striker in the first round. With the score in favour, continued to insist the team of Quique Sánchez Flores that had the second in a corner not resolved by Duarte in the small box. But, again, as against Levante, the script of the match took another turn almost unexpectedly. Williams, only brand, managed the tie with a precise header. At the start of the play the referee ignored a clear fault on Jurado that could have changed the final result of the action.
Quickly moved the bench Sanchez Flores after the restart and before the quarter hour gave entry to Dídac and Marc Navarro by Jurado and Javi Lopez. Meanwhile, Gerard continued creating problems. First, appeared out of nowhere in a strategy move that ended up saving Herrerín with his feet. And, after a few minutes, he tried with a shot from the front that went out to the post. Leo Baptistao benefited from a good Navarro centre to finish acrobatic in the area.
The game was losing brilliance: losses, fouls, cards and few ideas in the game. It seemed that the tie satisfied the two teams that did not risk too much during the final minutes and settled for a point to close the first round of the competition.