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3-2: Defeat on the road
RCD Espanyol fall to defeat on the road to CD Eldense in LALIGA Hypermotion
RCD Espanyol were beaten 3-2 away to CD Eldense at the Estadio Municipal Nuevo Pepico Amat on Sunday.
Espanyol got off to a rough start; Edu Expósito was forced off injured after suffering an early foul, before Eldense took the lead all inside the opening 10 minutes. But the Mágico did not need long to respond and draw level, equalising thanks to an own goal from Iñigo Peña that came from Leandro Cabrera’s knocked on header.
With both sides pushing for the breakthrough and testing each other’s goalkeepers, Espanyol were awarded a penalty following a VAR check that showed Eldense’s Sergio Ortuño handballing it inside the 18-yard box. Martin Braithwaite took responsibility and buried his spot kick into the bottom corner for the lead on 45 minutes.
All the first half stoppages brought a remarkable 13 minimum minutes of additional time, extended by a fan emergency in the stands. With the half entering its 15th minute of stoppage time, Eldense equalised with Ivan Chapela’s second of the afternoon, leaving it all square in a breathless opening period at the Nuevo Pepico Amat.
Just as Eldense had taken the lead in the first 10 minutes of the first half, they did exactly the same in the second as Ortuño converted at the far post. The second half saw much less action, with the hosts happy to keep it calm having restored their lead while Luis Miguel Ramis’ side were searching for the equaliser.
Espanyol could not get back into it nor create clear cut chances for the equaliser, and in the end Eldense held on to condemn Espanyol to defeat on the road.