Friday, May 18th, 2012
Espanyol banished any doubts over their away form as they went to the Vicente Calderon and picked up a hard-fought three points, in an entertaining 2-3 victory over Atlético Madrid. The Barcelona based outfit remain in 4th place, as Mauricio Pochettino continues to works minor miracles at the club.
Before the game it seemed almost straight forward, a team with a poor away record going to a team who have gained the majority of their points at home – but the conclusion to this was to be anything but predictable.
A bright start to the game included a long-range Diego Forlán effort which Carlos Kameni couldn’t hold, and it fell straight to Tomáš Ujfaluši who saw his tame shot parried. There was a chance almost instantly at the other end, as Daniel Osvaldo opted to place his header rather than going for power and the opportunity was missed.
The breakthrough was to come via the penalty spot however, and it was the away side who would gain the advantage. Jose Antonio Reyes was penalised for handball when he put both his arms in front of his chest to repel Jose Maria Callejón’s free-kick, replays showed it to be an extremely harsh decision. Luis Garcia stepped up to take the penalty, and hit an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net which David De Gea has no chance of saving.
Subsequently Atlético then offered more going forward, as they tried to overload the final third with striped shirts as both full-backs pushed on as Simão and Reyes did regularly cut-inside to provide space in the wide areas. Reyes proving to be pivotal in the ascendancy as we’ve seen often this season, with his link-up play a pleasure to watch.
The ex-Arsenal player hit a wonderful sweeping cross that went dangerously across the area, and Kameni could only claw it in front of him, where Simão was ready to pounce but he blasted over.
A relentless spell of pressure right up until half-time was to be rewarded though, as Atlético grabbed the equaliser. Reyes swung in a corner which was met by Tiago, and his header was stopped as well as Diego Godín’s follow up, but Tiago reacted well and hit home just before the whistle.
The 2nd half was an attack filled, fiery affair as both teams showed great tenacity throughout. Kameni pulled off an outstanding save with his legs to deny Simão early on, after he was put in by another neat ball from Reyes.
It was then against the run of play that Espanyol took the lead, as Pablo Osvaldo proved to be a nuisance again as he continued to lead the line on his own superbly. His sprint race with Perea saw him barge the Colombian off the ball, turn, and then shoot – De Gea fumbled the effort and it fell at the feet of Verdú who tapped in.
Not a moment passed before Agüero was brought down in the area, and claimed for a penalty, but the referee turned away yet another decision for Atletico. There were a number of questionable calls from the referee, and he can certainly not be accused of being a homer.
Verdú nearly grabbed a 2nd for himself soon after, but De Gea this time pulled off an excellent save to rival that of Kameni’s earlier. Atlético were to claw their way back into proceedings one more time as Diego Forlan dropped deep to pick up the ball, he spotted the run of his striker partner Agüero and hit a perfect clipped pass which the Argentine took into his stride smoothly and finished with even more style. 2-2 with 20 minutes to go and the home side had the fans on their feet wanting a winner – but they were to be sorely disappointed.
Luis Garcia picked up the ball on the right-wing and after poor closing down from Luis Filipe, delivered a nice cross which Osvaldo met superbly to volley home instantly. It was a truly brilliant finish, which was doused in the highest quality technique and worthy of winning any game.
Scenes on the touch-line flared up later on, as Quique Sánchez-Flores reacted furiously to what he thought was simulation by Javi Lopez. The manager went over to the defender, who had put in an impressive performance, and dragged him up by his arm – this sparked a mass confrontation and some serious eyeballing between Sánchez-Flores and Espanyol Captain Luis Garcia. It was eventually calmed down, and with Atlético out of their stride Los Pericos secured the three points.
FT: Atlético Madrid 2 (Tiago 45, Agüero 66) – Espanyol 3 (Luis Garcia 22, Verdú 53, Osvaldo 78)
Tags: Atletico Madrid, David De Gea, Diego Forlan, Espanyol, Kun Aguero, La Liga
