Goals either side of half-time from Bernardo Espinosa and Wu Lei sealed a massively important three points for struggling Espanyol over Alaves.
Rooted to the bottom of LaLiga Santander, Espanyol knew they would have to restart proceedings with a win to stand any realistic chance of avoiding relegation, and that’s exactly what they did.
They were given a boost after just 19 minutes when Alaves goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco was sent off.
From that point on, it was all Espanyol, and the opener finally arrived deep into first half stoppage time through a powerful header from Bernardo Espinosa.
Then, less than two minutes into the second half, Wu Lei doubled the hosts’ advantage.
Raul de Tomas, who replaced Wu Lei moments after his strike, set up Sergi Darder for what looked to be a certain goal late on but the midfielder dragged his shot wide.
Nevertheless, Espanyol held on for just their second home win of the season that puts them within three points of 17th placed Celta Vigo, before their fixture against Villarreal.
