Espanyol Vs Villarreal: Rossi Wondergoal Enough For All Three Points

A tale of two halves as both sides contributed to a cracking first 45 minutes of football, in which either side could have grabbed two or three goals each. As it was, Guiseppe Rossi got the decisive goal on the stroke of halftime. The goal has to be contender for goal of the week, with the Italian striker latching onto Brunos long ball before belting an unstoppable shot in from an incredibly tight angle to leave Kameni grasping at thin air.

Before halftime it was an intriguing battle between Bruno and Borja Valero for Villarreal and Javi Marquez and Luis Garcia for Espanyol as both teams battled for possession. Cani and Santi Cazorla always looked danergous for the Yellow Submarine, while Sergio Garcia was a constant menace for the home side, the little striker taking full advantage of Carlos Marchenas aging legs. Diego Lopez came to his sides rescue on each occasion, pushing one Sergio Garcia shot onto the post.

After Rossis goal, Villarreal came out the more assured side in the second half, and were closest to getting the all-important second goal of the match on numerous occasions, Rossi almost grabbing his second of the night as Kameni tipped his curling shot onto the bar. Espanyol appeared deflated and struggled to create many chances after the break, with Sergio Garcia eventually hauled off for Datalo. How they missed the predatory instincts of Osvaldo.

Espanyol rallied towards the end of the match, but they never quite looked like finding an equaliser, with David Garcias last gasp drive that whistled past the post about as close as they came. Dissapointing defeat for Pochettinos men as Villarreal confirm themselves as the closest challengers to the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly.