Espanyol pulls from the heart and dismounts Atlético from second place

2023-05-25 00:17:47

At the moment of truth, the parakeet fear of the abyss of relegation to Segunda weighed more than the mattress illusion of achieving the league runner-up and surpassing Real Madrid in the table. Espanyol poured out their heart to tie a duel that they were losing 0-3 at the start of the second half and although they were on the verge of completing the comeback that would have brought them closer to salvation, at least they gave their team reasons to dream of fleeing of the burning in the last two days.

The Catalan team deserved more, which was mercilessly beaten for its lack of aim and the effectiveness of Atlético. Saúl, Griezmann and Carrasco left the Blue and Whites on the brink of the abyss, but César Montes’ goal changed the story of a match that ended up equalizing Joselu, from a penalty, and Vinicius de Souza.

And it is that the Espanyolist defeat did not respond to what was happening on the pitch. The score was in the opposite direction of play for a good part of the game. The gala atmosphere at the RCDE Stadium was of little use in the first act to push his team to the complicated salvation. And that was backed by the blue and white initial arreón. Melamed and Puado tested Grbic’s reflexes from the start and inflamed the parakeet fans.

Espanyol

Pacheco, Óscar Gil (Aleix Vidal, min. 55), César Montes, Cabrera, Brian Oliván (Pedrosa, min. 78) Calero (Vini Souza, min. 46), Darder, Denis Suárez (Edu Expósito, min. 55), Melamed, Puado (Braithwaite, min. 78) and Joselu.

3

–

3

Atlético

Grbic, Molina, Giménez, Witsel, Hermoso, Saúl, De Paul (Barrios, min. 77), Koke (Kondogbia, min. 88), Carrasco (Reguilón, min. 88), Correa (Carlos Martín, min. 77) and Griezmann.

• Goals:
  0-1: minutes 21, Saul. 0-2: minutes 44, Griezmann. 0-3: min. 46, Carrasco. 1-3: min. 64, Cesar Montes. 2-3: min. 76, Joselu, from a penalty. 3-3: min. 79, Vin Souza.

• Referee:
  Melero López (Andalusian Committee). He admonished Aleix Vidal, Gbrbic, Vini Souza, Carlos Martín and Giménez.

• Incidences:
  Match of day 36 in the First Division played at the RCDE Stadium in front of 25,822 spectators.

Atlético, withdrawn, replied with a high shot from Griezmann, but got rid of the fire after a deflected volley from Joselu, who intended to put the icing on the cake of a great against Espanyol. The initial enthusiasm dropped slightly but the Catalan team did not deserve the huge blow from Saúl’s goal. A great pass from Mario Hermoso into space, César Montes made a mistake when going to the cut and Saúl, acting as winger, planted himself in the area and defined very close to the post with very little angle.

Tremendous jug of cold water on the parakeet fans, on the verge of a nervous breakdown with their team four points from safety and only six ahead. He needed an urgent reaction from Luis García’s team and the truth is that he could not be denied his courage but his aim. Puado did not hit the head, frustrated by Grbic; Neither did Cabrera, another who crashed headfirst into the Croatian goalkeeper; nor finally Darder, whose left-footed shot after a commotion in the area ran into the body of Mario Hermoso.

It definitely did not seem like the night for Espanyol when Grbic again prevented the parrot equalizer, this time before Joselu’s point-blank hit, but just before the break things got even uglier for the local parish in a billiards play of their own three bands. Pacheco avoided Saúl’s goal before Carrasco ran into the wood and ultimately Griezmann surpassed by millimeters the desperate stretch of the blue and white goalkeeper, who took the ball from inside according to the VAR.

The drama was complete when the second half had just started, Pacheco had his hands buttered before a volley from Correa from far away and left a ball rejected in the form of candy for Carrasco, mercilessly from the tree about to fall, not fallen.

Silence took over the RCDE Stadium, gripped by panic at an ever closer relegation. The mission already seemed impossible. Just a distant shot from Melamed who carried poison but it is not enough to defeat the colossus Grbic, also safe before the umpteenth attempt by the frustrated Joselu.

proud reaction

Griezmann was able to delve into Espanyol’s wound but he finished off high and just when the surrender seemed sealed, César Montes gave his team the breath of life with an accurate header to the near post after a corner kick. It was the bugle call that the Espanyol supporters needed, who glimpsed the miracle with Joselu’s goal finally canceled for offside.

The final stretch was a collection of crosses to the mattress area and although he was able to sentence Atlético with a shot to the crossbar by Nahuel Molina and Griezmann’s shot that in a very unorthodox way disrupted Pacheco, the duel came to a boil with Grbic’s penalty against fisted. The Balkan goalkeeper ruined his previous success with an unnecessary knockdown of the blue and white attacker and Joselu executed from eleven meters.

The parakeet fans shouted enraged and led their team to the tie. The equalizer that seemed like a chimera just a few minutes before was executed by Vinicius de Souza, who finished off with his head but also with his heart. The fans in Cornellá dreamed of victory but Espanyol lacked breath to complete the comeback against an absolutely blurred Atlético, who showed no ambition to retain second place in the league. The parakeet team had to settle for a point that is worth much more morally than numerically.