Post by Bismarck on Feb 4, 2008 14:42:19 GMT
MADRID, February 3 (Primera Liga) - Espanyol climbed to third place in the Primera Liga following a hard-earned win at Getafe on Sunday evening.
Jonathan Soriano's first-half strike ended the Catalans' three-match losing streak and saw them move above Villarreal and Atletico Madrid on goal difference.
Having gone 17 games unbeaten earlier in the campaign, Espanyol had looked odds on to secure a Champions League spot just a few weeks ago.
But their recent form had suggested otherwise.
League defeats at Almeria, Real Valladolid and at home to Real Betis saw the Barcelona-based side slip out of the top four - and they also lost their captain Raul Tamudo to injury when he broke an arm in training.
Espanyol's exit at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey was another blow to morale, but the team looked to put all of that right against an in-form Getafe.
Having weathered the early storm from a spirited home side, Espanyol hit the locals on the counter-attack after just 17 minutes.
Ivan de la Pena and Rufete - both restored to the Espanyol starting line-up following long spells on the sidelines through injury - combined to set up Jonathan, who latched on to the latter's cross and fired coolly past Roberto Abbondanzieri to put the visitors in front.
And it could have been two shortly afterwards, but Abbondanzieri did just enough to divert Valdo's thunderbolt onto the crossbar.
Getafe threatened to get back into it and were almost gifted an equaliser when Espanyol keeper Kiko Casilla spilled a cross, but his defence managed to avert the danger.
Five minutes later, Manu Del Moral grazed the post with a low drive from the edge of the area as the home side continued to pressure.
The Getafe striker then found himself unmarked in the area just before the break, but headed wide from Lucas Licht's cross.
After the interval, the game took a while to spark into life.
Getafe appeared short of ideas going forward, while Espanyol were happy just to absorb the pressure and attack on the break.
Jonathan almost got on the end of Luis Garcia's cross on the hour mark as the visitors looked to put the game out of reach.
But they were forced to defend as Getafe piled forward in search of an equaliser.
And it should have arrived on 73 minutes.
Ruben de la Red's shot was parried by Casilla and Jaime Gavilan half-volleyed the rebound towards goal, only to see the keeper push the ball onto the crossbar.
De la Red and Pablo Hernandez both followed up as the ball ricocheted around the Espanyol area like a pinball, but Casilla finally pushed the ball to safety and the visitors survived.
Casilla - who started again in place of African Cup of Nations absentee Carlos Kameni and the injured Inaki Lafuente - then nearly gifted Getafe a goal when he clumsily pushed a weak shot onto his bar, but Marc Torrejon got back to head the loose ball clear.
With seven minutes remaining, Michael Laudrup's side appealed for a penalty after Angel Martinez looked to have held back Gavilan, but the referee waved play on and Espanyol held on for a morale-boosting victory which sees them rise to third.
Getafe, meanwhile, slipped back into the bottom half.
Jonathan Soriano's first-half strike ended the Catalans' three-match losing streak and saw them move above Villarreal and Atletico Madrid on goal difference.
Having gone 17 games unbeaten earlier in the campaign, Espanyol had looked odds on to secure a Champions League spot just a few weeks ago.
But their recent form had suggested otherwise.
League defeats at Almeria, Real Valladolid and at home to Real Betis saw the Barcelona-based side slip out of the top four - and they also lost their captain Raul Tamudo to injury when he broke an arm in training.
Espanyol's exit at the hands of Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey was another blow to morale, but the team looked to put all of that right against an in-form Getafe.
Having weathered the early storm from a spirited home side, Espanyol hit the locals on the counter-attack after just 17 minutes.
Ivan de la Pena and Rufete - both restored to the Espanyol starting line-up following long spells on the sidelines through injury - combined to set up Jonathan, who latched on to the latter's cross and fired coolly past Roberto Abbondanzieri to put the visitors in front.
And it could have been two shortly afterwards, but Abbondanzieri did just enough to divert Valdo's thunderbolt onto the crossbar.
Getafe threatened to get back into it and were almost gifted an equaliser when Espanyol keeper Kiko Casilla spilled a cross, but his defence managed to avert the danger.
Five minutes later, Manu Del Moral grazed the post with a low drive from the edge of the area as the home side continued to pressure.
The Getafe striker then found himself unmarked in the area just before the break, but headed wide from Lucas Licht's cross.
After the interval, the game took a while to spark into life.
Getafe appeared short of ideas going forward, while Espanyol were happy just to absorb the pressure and attack on the break.
Jonathan almost got on the end of Luis Garcia's cross on the hour mark as the visitors looked to put the game out of reach.
But they were forced to defend as Getafe piled forward in search of an equaliser.
And it should have arrived on 73 minutes.
Ruben de la Red's shot was parried by Casilla and Jaime Gavilan half-volleyed the rebound towards goal, only to see the keeper push the ball onto the crossbar.
De la Red and Pablo Hernandez both followed up as the ball ricocheted around the Espanyol area like a pinball, but Casilla finally pushed the ball to safety and the visitors survived.
Casilla - who started again in place of African Cup of Nations absentee Carlos Kameni and the injured Inaki Lafuente - then nearly gifted Getafe a goal when he clumsily pushed a weak shot onto his bar, but Marc Torrejon got back to head the loose ball clear.
With seven minutes remaining, Michael Laudrup's side appealed for a penalty after Angel Martinez looked to have held back Gavilan, but the referee waved play on and Espanyol held on for a morale-boosting victory which sees them rise to third.
Getafe, meanwhile, slipped back into the bottom half.