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Espanyol lose to Deportivo Alavés but achieve survival

The team stay up despite a 2-1 defeat

Espanyol left Mendizorroza empty handed on Matchday 36, losing 2-1 to Deportivo Alavés. Despite equalising through a Raúl de Tomás penalty following an early goal, Los Pericos -playing almost the entire second half with ten men- were finally beaten by a strike from Gonzalo Escalante on the hour mark.

RCD Espanyol, who knew that they would face a very physical match with a lot of contact, found themselves behind shortly after the start, when Miguel de la Fuente took advantage of a loose ball inside the area to beat Diego López.

Practically on the next move, Escalante could have increased the lead for Alavés, but his shot went wide.

Waking up thereafter, RCD Espanyol began to attack, and RDT got the equaliser by converting from the penalty spot.

A physical game spilled over upon the restart, as after 20 seconds Yangel Herrera was sent off for a second bookable offence, leaving RCD Espanyol a man down.

From there, the contest turned into a battle for Los Pericos to salvage a point, but a free kick by Jason, finished off by Escalante inside the six yard box, gave the home team an advantage which they would hold onto until the final whistle.

The defeat, although disappointing, was tempered by a result elsewhere: Mallorca's 0-0 draw with Sevilla means that RCD Espanyol are now safe from relegation, with two games to go.

The next match for the team, against Valencia, will be played next Saturday at 6:30pm, and not on the Sunday as initially planned.