Back

1-1: More than one point required

Espanyol end their last home match of the season in a draw

The white and blues pass up the first match-ball to become the league champions with a draw versus CD Tenerife. The away side went ahead after their first shot at goal. The home side was rattled by the goal, and lacked their sharpness up front. In the end, they managed to draw the match in the second half, thanks to a goal by RDT. One point isn’t enough to win the league, so it will all come down to the last match.

Espanyol started positively and were up for sealing the match early before a rival that was recovering from a painful defeat against RCD Mallorca, due to the context in which it occurred. No discredit to the white and blues, but they did find themselves a goal down following the first opportunity of the away side. The long range effort by Pomares found its way past Diego López who was back as a first-team player after Oier’s absence.

Trailing by the goal, there was no other way but to fully commit to try and level the scoreline. But the team lacked a little clarity in their game to penetrate the away side defence. Embarba had a go at it with a couple of shots from free-kicks, but he found Serantes in a good position each time. It’s true that Vicente Moreno’s side had a good attitude, and they put in the effort, but they felt more and more out of sorts as the minutes passed by.

The second half got underway and Espanyol were set to even the match. With Melamed and Puado on the pitch, the team became more of a threat for the away side. A ball into the box from a corner resulted in Dimata’s effort that struck the post. Vicente Moreno raised the ante by bringing RDT into the game. The forward from Madrid didn’t take long to justify his presence by scoring the equaliser by means of an incredible strike from outside the box. Espanyol set out for the victory, but found themselves against a very mentally prepared rival that wanted to take something positive from the RCDE Stadium. Darder's red card didn’t help, and Serantes denied the chances of the home side by stopping a good shot by Embarba. Time will tell.