Espanyol Vs. Athletic Bilbao: Espanyol Earns Crucial 2-1 Victory

Early on it looked as though Bilbao had come for a draw and were going to get it, but things were turned on their head thanks to a probably-offside goal by Pablo Osvaldo followed up almost immediately by the equaliser for Bilbao, a free kick that should never have been awarded hammered home by Suaeta. To complete a trifecta of major errors in the last ten minutes of the first half, Gorka Iraizoz then got away with scything Osvaldo down in the penalty area. The hosts appealed, but their protests were inexplicably waved away.

The hosts hate to survive a flurry of attacking intent from Bilbao immediately after the goal, but even that storm settled and they were eventually able to cruise to a relatively comfortable (and critically important) win. It will still be extremely difficult for Espanyol to overhaul Bilbao into seventh place, but that’s better than almost mathematically impossible, which is what the situation would be if they hadn’t won today.

Then the officials got involved. First, Espanyol took the lead on what appears to be a blown offside call, Pablo Osvaldo slotting home after a bobbling ball found him free in space in the Bilbao box. His finish was far more assured this time, going in off Iraizoz’s right post to give the home side a huge boost in their attempt to unseat their guests in seventh place.

But relying on the whims of referees is a dangerous game, and since the goal Espanyol have seen a handful of key decisions go against them. First, Verdu was penalised and booked for being nearby when Susaeta fell over in his general vicinity, with Bilbao adding insult to injury when the midfielder then buried the free kick past Idriss Kameni. Then the hosts has what looked like a clear penalty turned down after Iraizoz brought down Osvaldo by swiping a foot through the striker’s legs. In no world is that not a penalty. Except this one, apparently.

No matter what, the goal stands, rather making up for an earlier chance from Osvaldo when the Argentine’s excellent run beat the offside trap but his first time shot was saved, relatively easily, by Iraizoz. The visitors are looking to respond quickly by pushing up the pitch, but that’s just letting Esponyol hit on the counterattack, where they’re looking dangerous. So, advantage to the hosts in the battle for seventh.

A European place is at stake at 3 pm ET, 9 pm local time in La Liga. Stay tuned to this StoryStream for live coverage of the match from pre-match all the way through to the end of the game.