Eibar still riding high

Eibar’s stellar adaptation to top flight Spanish football goes on. The Armeros beat Espanyol 1-2 in Matchday 17 of this season’s La Liga BBVA, with goals from Manu del Moral and Eneko Bóveda, moving them up into eighth. Felipe Caicedo scored midtable Espanyol’s consolation goal.

The teams looked evenly matched to begin with, before Eibar began to take control. Espanyol’s keeper Kiko Casilla denied Manu del Moral, but the Eibar striker soon latched onto a left wing cross from Saúl Berjón to make it 0-1. And Eibar didn’t rest on their laurels, instead stretching their lead just before half time with a header from Bóveda after a corner.

Espanyol came out in the second half looking to get back into the game. Eibar, solid as usual in defence, had keeper Xabi Irureta to thanks when he kept out a shot from Anaitz Arbilla. A goal from Caicedo did lift the crowd, and it looked like a comeback might be on at the Power8 Stadium, but the Basque side ultimately managed to hang onto their advantage.