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RCD Espanyol fall to defeat away to Villarreal
Los Pericos suffer at the Estadio de la Cerámica, losing 5-1
RCD Espanyol suffered a 5-1 defeat at the Estadio de la Cerámica when they took on Villarreal CF in an early Sunday fixture. The home side's Yeremy Pino scored four goals, with another coming for Dia in the second half, whilst Los Pericos could only respond through a consolation goal for Keidi Bare.
Vicente Moreno fielded the same starting XI that had begun the game against Sevilla, in which the coach had felt that his side had deserved more than a draw. However, there were early problems against Villarreal from which they failed to recover.
After Raúl de Tomás had forced a save from Geronimo Rulli from close range in the opening minutes, Villarreal got their first goal. A cross from the left by Estupiñán was put in by Pino on 14 minutes, to make it 1-0. Pino scored again just six minutes later, off a loose ball.
Espanyol's reaction failed to test the opposition goalkeeper, as they were unable to create clear opportunities.
A defensive mistake on the stroke of half time was capitalised upon by Pino, who completed his hat trick.
With the score at 3-0 at the break, Espanyol came out trying to make their way back into the game. However, a fourth goal from Pino killed off the game.
On 65 minutes, Bare got the consolation goal. A cross in from Embarba was headed onto the bar by Raúl de Tomás, and he was on hand to smash the ball home.
A ball in from Melamed found Dimata in the centre shortly after, although the Belgian's touch was only glancing as he threw himself at the ball.
A ball in from Melamed found Dimata in the centre shortly after, although the Belgian's touch was only glancing as he threw himself at the ball.
As Espanyol pushed forward to try to cut the gap further, they left themselves vulnerable at the back. Whilst Diego Lopez would deny Chuckwueze in a one-on-one, Dia would capitalise in the closing moments to finish a counterattack and take the score to 5-1, at the end of a disappointing afternoon for RCD Espanyol.
Next up for Los Pericos is a meeting with Getafe at the RCDE Stadium, on Saturday, March 5th.