Deportivo La Coruna 3 - 0 Espanyol : Deportivo La Coruna up to sixth in La Liga after comfortable win over Espanyol

Deportivo La Coruna moved up to sixth in the Primera Division after beating Espanyol 3-0 at Riazor.

An early own goal by Alvaro Gonzalez put the hosts on their way and then Lucas Perez scored either side of half-time to wrap up a second straight win for Victor Sanchez del Amo's side.

Things went from bad to worse for Espanyol late in the game as Pape Diop was sent off for a second bookable offence.

The Catalans went into the game after back-to-back wins over Real Sociedad and Valencia and made a positive start, looking to Marco Asensio and Gerard Moreno for creativity. But they shot themselves in the foot on 13 minutes when Gonzalez tried to clear Faycal Fajr's free-kick but instead diverted the ball into his own net.

Depor could see their opponents were rocked and tried to take further advantage, which they did so on 27 minutes, when Perez played a one-two with Luis Alberto and then slotted into the far bottom corner.

Then with the second half just two minutes old Perez struck again, bundling the ball home from close range after Celso Borges laid the ball across the floor from the right-hand side.

Deportivo did not sit back after the third goal and instead looked for a fourth which never arrived, but they were given a further boost when Diop was shown his second booking for bringing down Fede Cartabia.