Almeria 3 - 2 Espanyol: Espanyol comeback in vain

Posted Saturday, February 05, 2011 by PA

Espanyol's stirring fightback fell short as the Barcelona-based side suffered a 3-2 defeat at Almeria in the Primera Division.

Almeria raced into a 3-0 lead after just 18 minutes, but Espanyol pulled it back to 3-2 shortly after the restart and looked set to go on and register a memorable comeback.

But the home side defended bravely and held on to record a much-needed victory which boosts their survival hopes, while Espanyol drop a place to sixth.

It had looked so easy for Almeria as the locals raced into a 2-0 lead inside six minutes.

Marcelo Silva headed the first after five minutes from Hernan Bernadello's free-kick, with Espanyol keeper Carlos Kameni left in no man's land.

And a minute later, Kalu Uche made it two when he beat Kameni with a low shot which the Cameroon keeper should have saved.

Kameni was culpable for both goals but his defenders were more to blame for Almeria's third, allowing Bernadello to march through unchallenged and fire home with a deflected effort.

Joan Verdu gave Espanyol hope with a scrappy effort after 34 minutes and the visitors were on top after that, especially in the latter stages of the first half.

Substitute Alvaro Vazquez had an instant impact as he fired home three minutes after the interval, but Almeria tightened up at the back and chances were few and far between in the closing stages, the home side holding on for only their fourth league victory of the season.