Espanyol breathe easy at Rayo’s expense

Asensio’s pace reaps its reward
RCD Espanyol came out strong right from the first minute, playing a high press and creating problems for the Rayo Vallecano defence. The pace and audacity of Marco Asensio started to open up spaces and the home team made the most of them. The young attacking midfielder found a hole in the visitors’ back line and played in Abraham Gonzalez to open the scoring with a well-placed shot just inside the post, leaving the goalkeeper Yoel Rodriguez unable to do anything about it.

Well-organised home defence
Rayo conceded first for the fifth game in a row and once again had to try to mount a comeback in order to get something out of the match. Paco Jemez’s men did their best to improve, but came up against a well-organised Espanyol defence. The order and shape maintained by the home side’s back line frustrated Rayo’s attackers, who walked off at the interval without managing a single shot on goal.

Burgui fails to seal it
In the second half Rayo started to stretch their lines and created more of a threat on Espanyol’s goal, but it was the home team who should have killed off their opponents with two absolute sitters for Burgui. First the striker gave the ball away attempting a pass in the area when he was perfectly positioned to score, before putting his shot wide minutes later with only Yoel to beat.

Exchange of blows
The home team failed to take their chances and Bebe made them pay on one of the few occasions when he managed to penetrate Espanyol’s back line. The Portuguese player cut back inside the area and beat Pau Lopez with a sensational strike into the top corner. However, the visitors’ celebrations were short-lived, as they watched Hernan Perez put the home team back in the ascendancy with an impressive volley from inside the area 13 minutes from time.

#ESPvRVM | FULL TIME | @RCDEspanyol 2-1 @RVMOficial (Abraham 12, Hernan Perez 77; Bebe 67) pic.twitter.com/5Q7UnP5Qdf

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) March 7, 2016

 

Poor run on the road
Rayo were powerless to respond to Perez’s strike despite having an extra man for the final few minutes after Victor Sanchez was given his marching orders. Their latest defeat means that they have now gone a total of 12 games without a win on the road. The last time that they managed an away win was against UD Las Palmas on Matchday 4 of the Liga BBVA back in September. The Madrid-based outfit remain on the verge of the relegation places, level on points with Granada who top the drop zone.  Meanwhile, Espanyol’s victory allows them to breathe easy as they now sit five points clear of the battle to avoid relegation.