BARCELONA — Espanyol was grateful again that Joan García didn't end up at
Arsenal last summer after the goalkeeper made multiple saves against Leganes to
salvage a 1-1 draw in La Liga.
Espanyol defender Leandro Cabrera headed in a headed pass by
Alex Kral on a corner kick to put the hosts ahead just two minutes into the
match.
But Leganes showed how it was able to stun Barcelona last
month when it outplayed Espanyol the rest of the way. García's timely saves
were the only barrier to the small club from Madrid from taking the three
points.
García made at least four quality stops in the second half,
including back-to-back saves in the 74th.
After Leganes midfielder Yvan Neyou hit the post, García
dove to parry Miguel de la Fuente and then had to spring back up before
stretching low to deny Juan Cruz from putting in the loose ball from a tight
angle.
García was linked to a possible move to Arsenal after he
helped Spain win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
He called the draw with Leganes, which like Espanyol was
promoted last season, simply “not enough” given that they were considered
rivals in the fight to avoid relegation.
“We have to find a way to win our home games against our
direct rivals. Now we have to beat Valladolid,” García said about the next
match against another struggler.
Espanyol was in 18th place, in the drop zone, with
Valladolid one point behind in 19th after it beat Real Betis 1-0 to give new
coach Diego Cocca his first win.
Valencia hits bottomValencia sunk to last place after
conceding late at Sevilla for a 1-1 draw in a matchup of two big clubs who find
themselves in the doldrums.
Sevilla, whose club executives heard jeers before halftime,
rescued a point at home thanks to a rare goalkeeping error by Giorgi
Mamardashvili. The Georgia goalie let a last-gasp strike by Adria Pedrosa hit
his arm and into the net for the stoppage-time equalizer.
Valencia had been eyeing its first away win of the season
after Luis Rioja scored on the break with half an hour left.
Instead, the draw left it in last place halfway through the
38-round season and four points from safety.
“We are not able to finish off games and are receiving some
hard blows,” Rioja said. “A little bad luck means we once again let points get
away.”
Sevilla's disgruntled supporters called for the club
executives to step down after a poor first half and then jeered its players
after the final whistle.
Rubén Vargas debuted for Sevilla as a second-half substitute
a day after the Switzerland forward completed his move from Augsburg. He curled
a shot off the post in the 81st in one of the few bright moments for the team
that is in 13th place.
Also, Girona substitute John Solís scored in injury time at
Alaves to snatch a 1-0 win after he took advantage of a flubbed clearance
attempt by defender Moussa Diarra.
