UD Las Palmas routed RCD Espanyol 4-0 at home on Friday as the Canary Islands side continued their strong finish to the La Liga season.
Las Palmas, who returned to the top flight last summer after a 13-year absence, have won seven of their past 10 matches to provisionally rise to eighth place before the 35th round’s remaining matches.
Jonathan Viera set up Las Palmas’ opener by Nabil El Zhar in first-half injury time, after an opening stretch that Espanyol had dominated.
Photo: EPA
Helped by a rebound, Viera scored to make it 2-0 in the 49th before he crossed for Pedro Bigas to head in the third goal in the 56th. Substitute Wakaso Mubarak blasted in the fourth in the 75th.
“The important thing is that the team will stay in the first division,” Wakaso said. “We have been working hard for this for the last two months.”
Espanyol were left in 15th, five points from the relegation zone, after a fifth straight round without a win. There are three rounds left after this weekend’s games.
Espanyol were without striker Felipe Caicedo and defender Oscar Duarte due to injury, while midfielder Victor Sanchez was suspended. They also lost Abraham Gonzalez to injury in the first half, while defender Javi Lopez will miss next round’s visit by Sevilla after picking up a fifth yellow card.
Espanyol captain Lopez had harsh words for his team.
“We’re past asking our fans for forgiveness considering how we played in the second half,” Lopez said.
“It was unacceptable. We have three finals left, but playing this way we won’t get it done. This is a difficult day, for the result and the image we gave,” he added.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
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