A cruel penalty punishes a garrepa Espanyol (1-0)

BarcelonaA more than questionable penalty in the 96th minute caused Espanyol to leave the Reale Arena empty-handed (1-0). Vicente Moreno’s team ended up angry after losing a point that looked like a sack and well tied. The white-and-blues fell when they least expected it in a game in which, all things considered, they showed more apathy than tension. The end result, despite being cruel to Espanyol, does justice to the merits of a Royal Society that showed the Spaniards what the path to Europe is. Without ambition there is no prize. The Basque team looked for him and found him, consolidating the sixth position with a victory that keeps Espanyol in no man’s land: nine points from seventh place and 10 from the relegation zone.

Espanyol showed their most agile version at the Reale Arena, and gave the initiative to the rival, who was not exactly lame, to wait for the opportunity to give some scare in a counterattack or in a set piece. Two fouls served by Embarba with a header by Cabrera and Puado threatened Remiro’s goal, but the real danger of Espanyol ended here. The first half was a real monopoly of the Royal Society, which moved with pleasure between the lines under the baton of two very talented conductors like Silva and Rafinha.

Those of Vicente Moreno suffered the siege of a rival who collapsed bravely and caused a large number of losses in the construction area. The txuri-urdin tested a very demanding Oier on his return to the Reale Arena. The Basque goalkeeper was the most outstanding player in what was just his first title as a Spaniard in Primera.

Three debatable arbitral awards

Espanyol had a lot of problems connecting more than two passes with criteria in the opposite field. Without a RdT, Darder could not find any partner who would give a little judgment and be able to hold possession to put the team together and move it as a block beyond the dividing line. For many minutes, Espanyol were so reluctant to attack on the opposite side that it was too lazy to protest a more than questionable Le Normand penalty on Loren shortly before the break. The Andalusian striker was left alone claiming a kick on the pitch that went unnoticed by the VAR. Jaime Latre made up for the mistake shortly after the restart. After going to check the images on the TV screen, he canceled out a goal by Sorloth for an also quite debatable previous foul by the Norwegian striker.

The Royal Society did not lose patience in attacking and intensified the pressure on a Spaniard who resisted as best he could. When it came to suffering more at the Reale Arena, the white-and-blues found inspiration for their two central defenders. Above and below, both Calero and Cabrera were an insurmountable wall in the face of the warnings of the Sheriff. Everything indicated that Espanyol would be able to leave the goal at zero for the second consecutive game. But in the last action of the match, Isak ran into Calero and the referee did not hesitate to punish him with a penalty. Oier guessed the Swede’s intentions, but the shot, strong and tight at the base of the post, ended up overtaking him. A cruel outcome that reminds Espanyol that resisting is not enough. “We had said that the penalties were not whistled, but this was not even a penalty,” Vicente Moreno complained angrily.

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