Osasuna 2-0 Espanyol: Early Strikes Sink Pochettino's Men

Posted Sunday, January 17, 2010 by Goal.com

The Pamplona outfit put an end to their five game winless run in La Liga thanks to two goals inside the opening ten minutes.

Walter Pandiani, Osasuna, Atletico de Madrid

Osasuna had not won a league game since late November and after positive displays against Real Madrid and Deportivo La Coruna to kick-off 2010, Jose Antonio Camacho’s men were eager to put an end to their drought.

And they duly came charging off the blocks against Espanyol. Carlos Aranda forced a low fingertip block from Blanc-i-blau backup shot-stopper, Cristian Alvarez after just two minutes but five minutes later, Osasuna were in front. Juanfran picked up a short corner from Ruper, skipped past his marker and galloped into the box before slipping in a well placed shot past a crowd of defenders into the bottom corner.

Two minutes after that, it was 2-0 to the hosts. Javier Camunas floated in a cross from the left and Walter Pandiani found himself completely unmarked at the backpost as he thumped in a header past the hapless Alvarez.

The Navarrans couldn’t keep up the momentum, though, and the Catalan visitors came alive after the early shock. Still, they didn’t have their first shot on target until the 18th minute when Ben Sahar latched onto a loose ball but his effort from a tight angle was easily saved by Ricardo.

They came close to pulling a goal back five minutes before the break. Jose Callejon’s corner was met by a towering Ivan Alonso, but the striker sent his header just inches over the bar, before pleading with the referee that he had been impeded in the air.

Osasuna’s grip on the game slipped even further moments later when Ruper was dismissed for a second bookable offense. Alonso then smashed another header off target as Mauricio Pochettino’s side piled on the pressure but ended the half with no reward.

Espanyol came out firing after the restart, but just four minutes in, they, too, were down to ten men after Facundo Roncaglia picked up his second yellow card of the game.

Los Rojillos almost found the net again on 51 minutes. Aranda showed persistence to beat his marker to the ball on the byline and clip in a cross to the backpost for Camunas, who controlled with his chest before rifling in a low half volley but Alvarez stood his ground to make the save.

Espanyol responded with two decent opportunities of their own. First, Javi Marquez darted down the left channel into the box, checked past his marker onto his right foot and curled in a shot towards the top corner, but there just wasn’t enough bend in the shot. Then, Nico Pareja tried his luck from a free kick 20 yards out and although he had plenty of swerve to take it around the wall, he couldn’t keep it down.

Pablo Osvaldo almost scored on his debut for the Blanc-i-blau when he tried to deflect Fernando Marques’ long range effort with a flick on, but Ricardo was equal to the task.

A goalmouth scramble in injury time almost allowed Espanyol to find a way through, but Osvaldo again couldn't connect with the final shot cleanly as Ricardo clutched safely at the ball.

The victory sends Osasuna above Espanyol in the standings but both sides continue to wander aimlessly in the bottom half of the table.