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Match Report: RCD Espanyol return to winning ways against RCD Mallorca

A 2-1 home win gets Los Pericos back on track

Espanyol halted their run of bad results with a great 2-1 victory against an in-form RCD Mallorca, on Matchday 9 of the LaLiga season. Goals for Kumbulla and Jofre Carreras earned the three points at the RCDE Stadium.

Espanyol came out with a lot of energy and spirit, and were a much better side than RCD Mallorca during the first half. With Irvin Cardona on the left wing in place of the injured Javi Puado, they began to generate a lot of danger early on. Carlos Romero was always active, and combined well with the Cardona as the first clear approaches came from the left.

The first goal came thanks to a phenomenal cross from Jofre and an imperial finish from Kumbulla. The Albanian international added attacking accuracy to his usual defensive solidity, making it 1-0.

Cardona could have scored from a mistake made by the opposition defence, but the Frenchman rushed the shot and failed to hit the target. Shortly after, a Mallorca defender had to clear an effort from Jofre, whilst the attacker also had an effort from distance kept out.

RCD Espanyol did not lower their intensity in the second half, going all-out for the second goal that would give them peace of mind.

A good recovery by Pol Lozano led to a textbook counterattack, finished off by Jofre after a generous pass from Cardona. That doubled the lead and made things more comfortable.

Cardona had a subsequent action pushed away by Greif in the Mallorca goal, and then the visitors made four changes. One of the players who came on was Abdon Prats, who tested Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García.

However, the shotstopper could do nothing to prevent Cyle Larin from scoring, and Espanyol had to dig deep to hold on for a 2-1 triumph.