Espanyol beat Villarreal as Cabrera and Fortuño decide it

Leandro Cabrera scored the only goal and Ángel Fortuño made five saves as Espanyol won 1-0 at Villarreal in the eleventh round of LaLiga EA Sports. The result ended a six-match winless run and gave Sergio García's side a lift after a difficult spell.

Cabrera's goal settles the game

Cabrera's winner came in the 60th minute after Bryan Zaragoza's cross, and it was his first league goal of the season. He did the damage from the kind of position Espanyol usually want from their forwards, which makes the finish stand out even more. The defender also earned a 7.6 rating for the night.

The contest had already turned on a couple of key moments before that. Gerard Moreno left after 18 minutes with an injury and was replaced by Nicolas Pépé, while the referee disallowed Roberto Fernández's goal in the 50th minute after a VAR review.

Fortuño keeps Villarreal out

Espanyol did not control the match through possession or pressure. Fortuño had to do the heavy lifting, and five saves told the story of how the visitors protected a one-goal lead through the full 90 minutes.

The clean sheet matters because Espanyol remain 18th and still have only 8 points, so this was a needed response rather than a wider rescue. Villarreal vs Espanyol also showed how tight the margins were, with Sergi Cardona and Villarreal unable to turn territory into an equaliser. The home side had enough moments to trouble Espanyol, but not enough finishing to break Fortuño.

Espanyol's first job now is to make this result mean something beyond one good night away from home. The points haul is still modest, but Cabrera's goal and Fortuño's saves at La Cerámica at least stopped the slide for a match that could have gone the other way.