Espanyol 3 - Atlético Madrid 1

Espanyol: Lemmens; Domoraud, Lopo, Pochettino, Torricelli; Fredson (Morales 83'), Alex Fernández; Velamazán (Raducanu 60'), De la Peña, Hadji; Tamudo (Wome 77'). 4-2-3-1.
Atlético: Sergio Aragoneses; Contra (Novo 70'), García Calvo, Simeone, Sergi; De los Santos (Nikolaidis 81'); Aguilera, Paunovic, Jorge, Nano (Musampa 65'); Fernando Torres. 4-1-4-1.

Team changes: Espanyol: Velamazán for Maxi / Atlético: Contra, Simeone, Jorge, Fernando Torres for Gaspar, Lequi, Gabi, Ibagaza.

Goals:
1-0. 63. Fredson. Got above defence to head De la Peña corner past Sergio.
2-0. 82. Raducanu. Won ball off keeper and scored after mix up with Simeone.
3-0. 87. Raducanu. Got on end of Hadji deflected cross to head past Sergio.
3-1. 93. Fernando Torres. Latched on to loose ball in area to shoot past Lemmens.

Espanyol moved out of the relegation zone pending Mallorca's game on Sunday after beating Atlético Madrid 3-1. The Catalans had been in the bottom three since the fifth week of the league championship, but their good form in the second half of the season has finally paid off. They still have a lot of work to do though, and with their next two games against Barcelona and Deportivo before meeting Mallorca and Murcia, it will probably go down to the wire.

Atlético came into the game desperate for a win to get their European campaign on track after two defeats in a row, and they started well, with Jorge testing Lemmens with a long shot and then the keeper deflecting an effort from Fernando Torres just out of reach of Nano. The locals felt they should have had a penalty at the other end though when Paunovic held back Lopo, and Tamudo headed just wide before the break.

Alex Fernández came close to putting the locals in front on the hour mark when Aragoneses just managed to tip his free kick over the bar, but from De la Peña's resulting corner Fredson rose up to head powerfully past the keeper for the opening goal. Atlético had no reply, and substitute Raducanu added two more late on, the first after he charged down a clearance from Aragoneses and the second from Hadji's cross. Fernando Torres scored a late consolation goal for the visitors in injury time, but it was all academic, and Manzano's side see their chances of that UEFA cup spot slipping away.