Espanyol secure Europa League place with final day win over Real Sociedad
The Pericos beat La Real 2-0 while Athletic lost to Sevilla at the Pizjuan
Espanyol are back in Europe 12 years after they were beaten in the UEFA Cup final by Sevilla in Glasgow. They will be in the Europa League next season after beating Real Sociedad 2-0 on Saturday, while Athletic Club lost 2-0 at Sevilla.
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2 ________________ 0
RSO
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Espanyol
Diego López; Rosales, Naldo, Hermoso, Pedrosa; Marc Roca, Darder (Víctor Sánchez, 52'), Granero; Melendo (Puado, 88'), Borja Iglesias, Wu Lei (Sergio García, 80').
Real Sociedad
Rulli; Aritz, Llorente (Illarra, 64'), Moreno, Aihen; Zubeldia, Merino, Pardo (Januzaj, 64'); Barrenetxea (Juanmi, 73'), Willian José, Oyarzabal.
Goles
1-0 M. 57 Rosales. 2-0 M. 64 Wu Lei.
Árbitro
Jaime Latre (Comité aragonés). TA: Wu Lei (66') / Llorente (36').
Incidencias
RCDE Stadium. 26.568 espectadores.
The Pericos started the day in ninth place but knew a win against eighth placed Real Sociedad would give them a good chance of making Europe. A tight first half ended goalless but Espanyol kept their half of the bargain after the break with goals from Rosales and Wu Lei.
Beating La Real was enough to move eighth but only seventh was enough to secure Europe. All eyes, then, on Athletic at Sevilla. The Basques had to lose for Espanyol to move seventh and lose they did. Sevilla's win, though, wasn't enough to secure a Champions League spot. They join Espanyol in the Europa League, along with Getafe.
There was a pitch invasion at full time in Cornella to celebrate Espanyol's achievement. Rubi's done a brilliant job. Now he has to work on managing a European campaign along with a domestic one.
