Getafe 1-3 Espanyol report - Espanyol boost Euro hopes

Posted Sunday, January 23, 2011 by PA

Espanyol boosted their hopes of a place in next season's Champions League as they came from a goal down to beat Getafe 3-1 in Madrid.

The Barcelona-based side found themselves trailing to Miku's early strike, but hit back seven minutes into the second half through Luis Garcia and wrapped up a third straight league win thanks to goals from Jose Callejon and Sergio Garcia.

Espanyol went into the match in fifth spot, but had seen close rivals Valencia move six points clear of them following a somehwat fortuitous 4-3 win at home to Malaga on Saturday.

Getafe, meanwhile, had taken just a point from their last three matches and had lost their last game 4-0 at home to Real Sociedad.

And the home side struck first, albeit with some fortune as Miku's strike deflected in off Espanyol defender Juan Forlin after 12 minutes.

Pedro Rios then fired over and Manu del Moral saw his effort saved by Carlos Kameni as the hosts sought a second, but Espanyol began to dominate as half-time approached.

Javi Marquez, Victor Ruiz and Callejon all came close to a leveller, although Dani Parejo was guilty of missing a wonderful opportunity at the other end, when he fired wide with only Kameni to beat.

Espanyol equalised within seven minutes of the restart, when Sergio Garcia set up Luis Garcia and the latter clipped the ball neatly over Oscar Ustari.

Seven minutes later, Callejon glanced a header past the Argentinian keeper to complete the turnaround and Sergio Garcia made it 3-1 shortly afterwards from close range to complete a remarkable - and rapid - turnaround.

Espanyol stay fifth, but stay in contention for a place in next season's Champions League, while Getafe drop to 10th.

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