10-man Espanyol hangs on for 1-0 win at Mallorca

Posted Monday, October 18, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

BARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Ten-man Espanyol hung on for a 1-0 victory over Mallorca and its first away win of the Spanish league season on Sunday, while Athletic Bilbao, Levante and Racing Santander were all victorious at home.

Luis Garcia’s 31st-minute penalty proved enough for Espanyol despite the visitors going a man down four minutes later when striker Pablo Osvaldo was red carded for putting his arm on Marti Crespi as they jumped for a high ball.

Athletic snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over winless Zaragoza, while Levante earned its first win of the season at its Ciutat de Valencia stadium with a 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad.

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Pedro Munitis’ first goal in 18 months gave Santander a 1-0 win over Almeria.

Deportivo La Coruna remained without a victory following a 0-0 draw with Osasuna, which picked up its first away point of the campaign despite playing with only 10 men following Javier Camunas’ 35th-minute sending-off. Deportivo, which was without Mexico forward Andres Guardado, has won once in its last 20 games stretching into last season.

“We have a good squad but they’re not playing well as a team, and that’s the responsibility of the coach,” Deportivo coach Miguel Angel Lotina said. “We have to understand how to rectify (our play).”

Mallorca started well before Garcia made no mistake in converting from the spot after being pushed to the ground for Espanyol’s first away goal.

Jose Callejon burst free into the area on the hour mark but shot straight at Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate, who made two more stops in the ensuing scramble from the rebound. Aouate was alert again in the 74th to push substitute Alvaro Vazquez’s rising shot away.

“This (win) shows we’re working well and it confirms our philosophy,” Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “We were constantly creating occasions.”

Despite the man advantage, Mallorca couldn’t unlock Espanyol’s defense with Pierre Webo heading wide in the 77th. Cristian Alvarez—filling in for injured ‘keeper Carlos Kameni—was unfazed by the late pressure as Espanyol picked up its first win at the Ono Estadi stadium since the 1999-2000 season.

At San Mames stadium, Andoni Iraiola opened the scoring for Athletic with a volley in the 11th minute that swerved under Zaragoza goalkeeper Antonio Doblas inside the near post.

Fernando Llorente—fresh from scoring three goals in Spain’s two European Championship qualifying wins last week—took his season tally to four with a sharply headed ball in the 23rd.

Zaragoza was troubled by the physical Llorente, who headed a clear chance wide in the 51st. Zaragoza was reduced to 10 men when Adam Pinter caught the lanky striker in the face with his boot two minutes later for a second yellow card.

Braulio Nobrega scored in the game’s last play for Zaragoza, which never really threatened.

Levante was the better side from the start as Victoriano “Nano” Rivas hit the woodwork one minute before Asier del Horno did the same in the 29th.

But standout Del Horno finally put the hosts ahead with a 60th minute header before on-loan Manchester City striker Felipe Caicedo scored his second of the season from a left-foot shot six minutes later.

Substitute Jeffrey Sarpong grabbed one back for Sociedad in the 80th and substitute striker Joseba Llorente nearly equalized in the closing stages.

Later Sunday, Sevilla plays Sporting Gijon.

Real Madrid tops the standings with 17 points following its 4-1 win at Malaga on Saturday. Also, Barcelona beat Valencia 2-1 and both have 16 points.

Atletico Madrid beat Getafe 2-0 Saturday to improve to 13 points—one better than Espanyol.

Villarreal, which has 15 points, plays Hercules on Monday to close the seventh round.