Back
2-0: Happy 120th!
Espanyol finished a great day with a comfortable lead against SD Ponferradina
Espanyol scored another victory at RCDE Stadium on what was a very special day for the parakeet family. On the day of its 120th anniversary, Vicente Moreno's team gave the final gift to the fans, adding three points to maintain the leadership and culminate a festive day. RDT, who consolidates his position as top scorer, and Embarba were the authors of the goals against a Ponferradina that only stirred in the final minutes.
The calendar saw Espanyol celebrating its 120th anniversary with a match against Ponferradina at the RCDE Stadium. A priori it could seem a perfect rival for the party, but the Bierzo team has players with experience in the Second Division who do not give in easily. Vicente Moreno decided to change his eleven a bit and refresh all the lines of the field in a demanding stretch of the season due to the number of games.
The local team showed another face in the offence. Vicente Moreno's players developed the plays further, and both Pedrosa and M. Llambrich made significant offensive appearances in the opening bars of the clash. The appearance of the wings gave a fresher touch to the offence, although RDT did not end up connecting in any of the approaches. Melendo, always punished by the rivals, also unburdened the team with his game changes. Espanyol was not in bad shape, and confirmed this midway through the first half. RDT caught a ball in the centre of the field to make a millimetric game change at the feet of M. Llambrich. The number 2 left it to Darder, who connected again with RDT. The blue and whites' top scorer was unforgiving. After the goal, the game lost some shine and Ponferradina, taking advantage of the local disconnect, dared to cross from the centre of the field without any impact on the scoreboard.
Fortunately, the team came back well-connected after the break, and Embarba scored the second after a good team move. It seemed that Espanyol had the capacity and desire to achieve a much better result, but they went down a gear again and the visiting team took advantage of that to create some danger. The defence responded and multiplied to clear three consecutive shots from Ponferradina, although it was expanyolista Carles Doncel who had the clearest in a shot from the area. Vicente Moreno's team seemed to be rationing and managing their game, despite receiving a scare. Pol Lozano posed a threat in a brilliant collective action, but his shot ended up grazing the post.