Espanyol beat Villarreal 1-0 at the Estadio de la Cerámica on 30 October in the opening match of the LaLiga round. Sergio García, the B-team coach, led Espanyol from the touchline three days after Manolo González was sacked.
How the match unfolded
Gerard Moreno went off with a muscle injury in the 17th minute and Nicolas Pépé replaced him. In the 50th minute, Roberto Fernández had a goal ruled out by VAR because the review found he had held Pau Navarro before scoring. Cabrera scored in the 60th minute, with Bryan Zaragoza providing the assist.
Coaching situation
Espanyol named Eder Sarabia head coach on Wednesday 28 October, before his official presentation. Ara reported that Sarabia could not take charge at La Cerámica because he is serving a two-match suspension. Sarabia's new staff includes former centre-back Álvaro González, who played for Espanyol from 2014 to 2017 before moving to Olympique de Marseille.
Key match details
Ángel Fortuño made saves that helped Espanyol keep the win. Each team received three yellow cards and there were no red cards. Foyth and Diatta had already been ruled out late.
Table and next fixtures
The win leaves Espanyol 12th with 11 points from their opening games, while Villarreal are 10th with 12 points. Villarreal host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday 3 November. Espanyol's next LaLiga match is at home to Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday 7 November.
