Espanyol End 143-Day Winless Run to Shake Up La Liga Relegation Battle
Quick summary
Espanyol beat Athletic Club 2-0 with a stoppage-time goal to end a 143-day winless streak. The result lifts them to 14th on 42 points and significantly alters the relegation picture in La Liga.
Full article
Attributed to original sourceA stoppage-time eruption and a crying Manolo González means the Catalan club’s long-awaited victory changes everything at the bottom of the table
After 143 days and many more sleepless nights Manolo González was liberated, if only for a little while. In the 92nd minute of the 19th game of 2026, something amazing happened: Espanyol won and Espanyol went wild. A goal up against Athletic Club, a late Gorka Guruzeta header had shaken them more than the post it hit, a familiar fatalism refusing to leave, and they were desperately hanging on to what they had now and had lost too many times before, whistling for this suffering to finally end, when at last they could let go. “You have to be strong in life but, bloody hell, we all have limits,” González said, and they had reached theirs but now, on a Wednesday evening in May, they were released.
Ramon Terrats, a boyhood Espanyol, nodded the ball on. Kike García, the only member of the squad born in the 80s and a man with a bit of the 80s about him, a 36-year-old, 6ft 1in, 12-stone striker they call the “labourer of goals”, a sub who had only been out there six minutes, ran on to it. Keeping his head, he guided a shot past Unai Simón so everyone else could lose theirs. The clock said 91.06. The scoreboard said 2-0. The table said: 14th, 42 points, 11 wins. And 29,943 people said: argrhjrfujhk n gsafkjhfskljdzrogjdgixjkgjhlkbxcfh . As for González, he broke down and cried.
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What happened
Espanyol secured a long-awaited 2-0 win over Athletic Club, ending a 143-day spell without victory. Kike Garcia scored late after Athletic had threatened through Gorka Guruzeta, sealing a result that prompted an emotional reaction from coach Manolo Gonzalez. The win moves Espanyol up to 14th place on 42 points, giving them breathing room in the survival fight. Beyond the single match, the result tightens and complicates the battle at the bottom of La Liga.
Chance analysis
This matters because a long winless run had become a structural drag on Espanyol's survival chances, and breaking it this late in the season can materially shift relegation probabilities. A direct standings swing near the bottom is often more important than performance aesthetics, especially when confidence and game-state management have been issues.
Espanyol gain a major morale and table-position boost, while the relegation race becomes more volatile for the teams around them.
Upgrade Espanyol's short-term survival outlook and reprice relegation-related markets, but avoid overreacting to one result without follow-up performance confirmation.