Espanyol 1 - Real Madrid 2

Espanyol: Mora; Navas, Soldevilla, Pochettino, Roger; Sergio, Galca; Velamazán Martín Posse (Oscar 75'), Arteaga (Toledo 75'); Tamudo (Serrano 80'). 4-2-3-1.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Geremi, Iván Campo, Karanka, Roberto Carlos; Figo, Iván Helguera, Makelele, McManaman; Raúl, Morientes (Savio 46'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Espanyol: Martín Posse for De Lucas / Madrid: Iván Campo for Hierro.

Goals:
0-1. 04. Morientes. Took pass from McManaman, dummied and shot from left.
0-2. 12. Figo. Free kick from left into top corner of net.
1-2. 21. Pochettino. Headed in free kick from Roger on left field.

Real Madrid bounced back from their midweek defeat in the Spanish cup to take the three points in Montjuic and move temporarily at least to the top of the first division. Having taken it on the chin for not fielding any of his first choice players against second division B team Toledo, Vicente Del Bosque returned to his all-star line up, with the only change from the team who beat Celta last weekend being the replacement of the suspended Fernando Hierro with Iván Campo. They were up against an Espanyol side whose revival has gone off track in the last couple of games, with defeats against Deportivo and Barcelona. Their manager Paco Flores also only made one change to his line up, bringing back Martín Posse to partner Tamudo up front. Before the match Barcelona based Real Madrid supporters greeted Luis Figo with white carnations which they threw onto the pitch as he came on, their reply to the ugly reception he received a couple of months ago at the Nou Camp stadium.

Madrid were out to restore their pride and within four minutes they were in the lead, Morientes taking a reverse pass from McManaman to round Navas and beat Mora from a wide angle. Figo sent out a warning shot with a free kick which Mora turned for a corner five minutes later, but a couple of minutes after that he went one better with a second free kick, and although Mora got a hand to it he could not stop it entering the top corner of the net. Espanyol tried to get back in the game and Casillas saved well from Tamudo, but the young keeper was at fault in the 21st minute when he hesitated coming out to Roger's long cross, and Pochettino sent a looping header into the empty goal. He did however make up for it later in the game, saving twice from Velamazán before the break and tipping a Serrano header over the bar near the end of the game.

At half time Morientes went off with an injury, and Savio came on to play for once in his true position up front. The young Brazilian impressed but was unable to score, his best effort rattling the crossbar from outside of the area. In the last minute Espanyol came close to saving a point, and after the week Real Madrid has had, it was ironic that the chance fell to Toledo. However his header went just wide. With Deportivo losing and Valencia not playing until the Sunday, Real Madrid went top for 24 hours with this their fifth league victory in a row. Espanyol drop to fourteenth having not taken a point from their recent passage through the 'Bermuda triangle'. Their calendar returns to normal now, although they have a tricky visit to Mallorca midweek before the two week winter break starts. Paco Flores has already been questioned by some fans, and they need to start picking up points if he is not to join the ever-growing manager casualty list.