What was supposed to be something more than a year of consolidation in Primera, the start of an exciting new project, is on its way to becoming a new survival exercise for Espanyol. The white-and-blues have presented Nuevo Mirandilla (2-2) with a performance well worthy of the competitions that Cádiz celebrates every year. Special mention for the goalkeeper, this time Lecomte, who has taken it upon himself to demonstrate to Diego Martínez that Espanyol, right now, has two insecure goalkeepers who are competing to see who makes it bigger.
The Frenchman, who was returning to the starting line-up after three substitutions, made a sensational start in a throw-in where he ran over Edu Expósito to not end up clearing the ball well. After two bad rejections from Vinicius and Sergi Gómez, Chust has opened the can to pleasure. The white-and-blue goalkeepers are still singing, but the rest of the team isn’t doing much better either. Nothing worked for Espanyol in the first half: from the mistakes under the posts to the generosity of the defenders, through midfielders unable to pass the ball and forwards frustrated by not being able to step into the opponent’s area.
Diego Martínez’s team have signed two antagonistic sides, one worrying and another vindictive, against one of the worst teams in Primera. Cadiz, who had only scored one goal in the first seven games, scored two against a Spanish team against whom seven of the eight opponents they faced scored two or more goals.
The final point can only be described as insufficient by a team that urgently needs to add three by three again. The feelings are even worse than the results (six points out of 24): Espanyol have not been able to step dangerously into the Cadiz area in the entire first half. In addition, he only threatened Ledesma with a poisoned cross from Melamed, who withdrew before the break, injured.
The Andalusians, despite having a priori a less technically gifted squad, were able to comfortably dominate possession during the first half against a Spanish team that, despite having players like Darder, Expósito, Vinicius or Melamed, was not able to have judgment or creativity with the ball at your feet at any time. The passage through the changing rooms has helped the Spaniards to hide and clean. When they found themselves with water up to their necks, Diego Martínez’s men started to play football and turned the game upside down like a sock.
Six goals in eight days
The Espanyol that came out in the second half had nothing to do with that of the first. Eager to make up for lost time, the white-and-blues began to generate and accumulate warnings in the opponent’s area until they managed to get the score back up. First, Cabrera has a deflected header. Joselu then scored the equalizer with what was his first goal of the season. The first, moreover, assisted by a cross from a winger. There was no need to invent anything, simply take advantage of the resources available. Puado was able to sign the second on two good consecutive occasions, but it was Joselu who confirmed the comeback, who signed his particular double. That’s six goals in eight games.
The joy, however, did not last even ten minutes for Espanyol, who paid dearly for having forgiven Cadiz. In a move poorly defended by Calero, Lucas Pérez gave life to the visitors, making it 2-2, and had the third, with a spectacular free kick that hit the crossbar in the 94th minute. Espanyol leave Cadiz with the body fear and a single point in a match that he has not been able to manage. Most worryingly, seeing how the team doesn’t quite find the key and is forced to readjust expectations week after week.
