Espanyol 1 : 2 Racing de Santander - Giovani finds late winner

Posted Sunday, April 03, 2011 by PA

Giovani dos Santos headed a late winner at Cornella as Racing Santander came from a goal down to beat Espanyol in the Primera Division.

Dani Osvaldo fired Espanyol into the lead from the penalty spot eight minutes before half-time, but Gonzalo Colsa replied for the visitors five minutes after the restart and Giovani sealed the points for the Cantabrians when he headed home 15 minutes from time.

The first half was a cagey affair and there was little in the way of goalmouth action.

But Espanyol were presented with a great opportunity to break the deadlock as Racing defender Domingo Cisma handled in the area nine minutes before the interval.

And Osvaldo, who recently returned following more than two months on the sidelines, made no mistake from 12 yards.

Espanyol had looked the better side and had been the brighter of the two teams overall, but the Catalans' recent defensive frailties returned to haunt them after the break.

The locals failed to deal with a corner and Colsa was allowed to blast home from close range to level the scores.

Giovani and Javi Marquez both came close for their respective sides after that, but it was the Mexican - on loan from Tottenham - who sealed the win for Racing as he headed home a scuffed shot from Mehdi Lacen following a corner which Espanyol had been unable to clear once again.

That proved enough for the visitors to seal a second straight win, which sees them move up to 11th place - seven points clear of the bottom three with eight games left.

For Espanyol, meanwhile, it was an eighth defeat in 10 Primera Division matches.