BARCELONA, Spain ( Associated Press) — Almería earned its first goal in a 3-1 home win over Espanyol on Friday as Spain’s La Liga restarted after the World Cup.
The Rosiblanco team, which was upgraded for this season, has been unbeaten in five league games since late December.
Under Ruby’s leadership, Almería is also proving to be the strongest at home with six wins in 10 matches.
The win over Espanyol saw them drop to 11th in the table, midway through the season. In contrast, Parrot dropped to 14th place.
“It was our worst game of the season,” said Espanyol midfielder Sergi Darder. “They didn’t play at their best, but they were still infinitely better than us.”
A 3–1 defeat against Real Madrid in August saw Espanyol’s scoreline feel the most one-sided of the season. But that matchup against the defending champions was 1-1 till the 88th minute.
After several changes by the home side, Colombian striker Luis Suarez scored in the 21st minute, his first since joining Almeria on loan from Marseille earlier this month.
Former Espanyol striker Leo Baptistao extended the gap to 61 and Gonzalo Meleiro assisted Francisco Portillo on 77 to put the match out of reach for the Catalan side.
Espanyol striker Joselu Mato was present for the visiting team in extra time. Joselu’s 11 goals puts him second among scorers, only behind Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski’s 13.
