BARCELONA: The second top-scorer of the ongoing La Liga season Joseulu Mato’s strike in the stoppage time went in vain as Espanyol succumbed to a thumping 3-1 defeat at the hands of home side Almeria on Friday.
Rubi’s Almeria carried on their consistent performance to remain unbeaten in the Spanish league since the resumption after World Cup.
After being promoted for the ongoing season, the side went undefeated in the last five La Liga fixtures since the end of December and also emerged as one of the strongest teams at home with six triumphs in 10 games.
Meanwhile, in their dominant show over Espanyol, the home team got off to a somewhat unpleasant start, missing a number of opportunities until Colombia’s Luis Suarez ultimately scored the opener in the 21st minute.
Suarez’s opener injected Almeria with momentum, resulting in the side pressing Espanyol’s defence more rigorously and soon got rewarded when former Espanyol forward Leo Baptistao doubled their lead in the 61st minute.
The home side then tasted another triumph in the 77th minute when Gonzalo Melero set up Francisco Portillo, who eased the ball into the nets.
Espanyol forward Joselu got the touring side’s consolation goal in stoppage time to close in gap with the leading scorer Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski (13) with his 11th of the season.
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