Villarreal 0-1 Espanyol: Visitors seal three points as Cabrera on target

Espanyol snapped out of a six-match winless run to register a shock 1-0 victory over Villarreal as Sergio Garcia made the perfect start to life as interim boss.

Match Report

The opening exchanges were fairly even, although Carlos Macia and Santiago Mourino both missed chances for the hosts, who also received a huge blow when Gerard Moreno limped off injured. It took until the 26th minute for either goalkeeper to be tested, with the Parakeets’ Angel Fortuno equal to Georges Mikautadze’s effort, before Bryan Zaragoza was denied at the other end. The Yellow Submarine grew stronger as proceedings wore on and saw a thumping Sergi Cardona strike towards the near post bounce to safety off Fortuno’s chest. Nicolas Pepe then flashed wide from outside the area, before signing off the half with a shot from a tight angle that failed to find the target.

Roberto Fernandez thought he had broken the deadlock three minutes after the break, but his goal was chalked off following VAR intervention for a foul in the build-up. They would not be denied a second time though, with Leandro Cabrera bagging his first goal of the season when he delightfully met Zaragoza’s cross with a crisp volley from close range.

That sparked Inigo Perez’s side - who had won the last seven head-to-heads - back into life. Tajon Buchanan, looking to end a six-month goal drought, blasted wide from outside the area, before having another effort deflected into the goalkeeper’s arms, while Mikautadze curled harmlessly off target as he eyed the far corner. It was the a flat display for a team who suffered their third home defeat of the campaign, and things could have been worse had Javi Puado’s late shot not been too close to Peter Gulacsi in goal. 

The result crushed Villarreal’s hopes of winning three games in a row for the first time in a year, whereas Espanyol move out of the La Liga relegation zone after their second away victory of the campaign

Match Events

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60' GOAL! Villarreal 0-1 Espanyol (Leandro Cabrera)

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Line-ups

Villarreal XI: Gulacsi, G. Moreno, Santi Comesaña, Sergi Cardona, Buchanan, Georges Mikautadze, Alberto Moleiro, Renato Veiga, Pau Navarro, Santiago Mouriño, Carlos Macià

Subs: Ayoze Perez, Pepe, Logan Costa, Luiz Júnior, Rubén Gómez, Alex Freeman, Tani Oluwaseyi, Carlos Romero, Cheikh Tidiane Thiam, Nízar El Jmili

Espanyol XI: Cabrera, Exposito, Vanja Drkusic, Ángel Fortuño, Bryan Zaragoza, Omar El Hilali, Roberto Fernández, Javi Hernández, Rafel Bauzà, Roger Hinojo, Alejandro Santiago Vargas

Subs: Dmitrovic, Pere Milla, Núñez, Pol Lozano, Puado, Tyrhys Dolan, Marcos Fernández, Quilindschy Hartman, Gabriel Moscardo, José Ángel López, Jan Peries Duran, Adama Timera