Madrid: Fernando Llorente and David Lopez scored second-half goals as Athletic Bilbao rallied to beat Espanyol 2-1 on Sunday and deny it the chance to move into third place in the Spanish league.
Espanyol striker Pablo Osvaldo was a threat throughout as the Argentine striker capped a slick buildup in the 33rd minute by firing past Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz to put the visitors on course for a first win at the San Mames stadium since 2001.
Lopez's 56th-minute entrance spurred the hosts on, however, as he tested Carlos Kameni before Llorente made up for a wasteful miss by powerfully heading Andoni Iraiola's cross past Kameni for the 73rd-minute equaliser.
Lopez then curled in a perfectly taken free-kick for the 78th-minute winner and the Basques' fifth straight home win.
Espanyol stayed on 28 points — two behind third-place Villarreal — while Athletic improved to 22.
Also, David Trezeguet led Hercules' own second-half rally as the French striker scored the first of four goals over a 15-minute span in a 4-1 win over Malaga.
Sebastian Fernandez put Malaga ahead after 12 minutes at the Jose Rico Perez stadium before Trezeguet coolly back-heeled home Nelson Valdez's centering pass in the 66th to begin the rally.
Royston Drenthe scored a penalty three minutes later before Abraham Paz scored Hercules' third in the 72nd. First-year player Kiko Femenia scored his first goal of the season to cap the Costa del Sol derby.
Also, Sporting Gijon rallied to draw against Levante 1-1 and Oscar Serrano returned from a seven-month knee injury layoff to score two minutes into injury time as Racing Santander won 1-0 at Mallorca.
Comments
0 comment