Espanyol go fourth as Sevilla stumble

Espanyol made it a perfect six wins from six at their Cornella-El Prat stadium on Sunday, defeating promoted Hercules 3-0 to move into fourth.

Joan Verdu opened the scoring on 14 minutes and late penalties from Pablo Osvaldo (80 min) and Luis Garcia (90) gave the scoreline a flattering look as Espanyol maintained their 100 percent home record — leaders Real Madrid are the only other team with a flawless 18 points at home — to go a point above Valencia into fourth.

Despite scoring just 12 goals in their 12 league matches Espanyol are now in the Champions League spots as the Barcelona-based club dream of European football after four seasons of mid-table obscurity.

“It doesn’t surprise me how well we are doing,” said Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino.

“I see the group every day and the most important thing is to believe in an idea and a football model. We always have the same mentality of going out to fight for every ball and every match.”

Sevilla missed the chance to leapfrog Espanyol crashing to their first league home defeat of the season with an agonising 2-1 loss against Real Mallorca.

Brazilian international forward Luis Fabiano looked to have stolen a point for Sevilla on 87 minutes after cancelling out Frenchman Michael Pereira’s opener but Cameroon striker Pierre Webo struck the winner two minutes later.

“The winning goal could have been avoided,” bemoaned Sevilla coach Gregorio Manzano. “We have missed the chance to jump up to the European spots and are now four points off third place.”

It was particularly disappointing for Sevilla boss Manzano against the club he left in the summer, however, it was sweet revenge for Mallorca who lost out on fourth place to Sevilla on the final day of last season.

Sevilla fall to seventh, two points off the top four, while islanders Mallorca climb to eighth two points behind Sevilla.

In other matches, Atletico Madrid came from behind to win 4-2 at Real Sociedad on Sunday and move above Sevilla into sixth place on goal difference.

A flurry of late goals turned the game in Atletico’s favour with the visitors scoring three times in the final 11 minutes to leave Sociedad empty-handed.

Diego Forlan equalised at 1-1 on 71 minutes before Argentine Sergio “Kun” Aguero (79 min, 82) scored twice inside three minutes and Simao converted a last minute penalty to hand Atletico only their second away win of the campaign.

Elsewhere on Sunday Deportivo La Coruna continued their revival with a 3-0 home win over Malaga.

Depor failed to win any of their first eight league games but have now taken 10 points from the last 12 to move into mid-table.

“A month ago it seemed like we couldn’t beat anyone and now we are much more happy and that breeds confidence,” said Depor coach Miguel Angel Lotina.

Promoted Levante moved away from the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over 10-man Racing Santander. Ecuadorian international striker Felipe Caicedo, on loan from Manchester City, scored twice to down Racing who had Domingo Cisma sent off on 29 minutes.

At the top, unbeaten Real Madrid lead the standings with a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick sealing a 5-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to ensure they are a point ahead of Barcelona when the two teams meet in the first Clasico at Camp Nou on November 29.

“The difference between Barcelona and Real Madrid and the rest is getting bigger and bigger,” said Bilbao coach Joaquin Caparros. “We just have to focus on working well with the youth system and bringing players through.”

Barcelona crushed Almeria 8-0 on Saturday thanks to a Lionel Messi treble and hope for a fifth consecutive Clasico win over their bitter rivals in the Monday night showpiece.

The humiliating home defeat to Barcelona prompted Almeria to sack coach Juanma Lillo with the club lying second from bottom of the table.

Real Zaragoza prop up the table and new coach Javier Aguirre hopes for a winning debut when he takes charge of the team for the first time at Getafe on Monday.