Celta Vigo 1 - Espanyol 5

Celta: Pinto; Velasco, Berizzo, Sergio, Sylvinho; Luccin; Angel (Edu 46'), Mostovoi (Pinilla 46'), Ilic, Gustavo López (Vagner 71'); Milosevic. 4-1-4-1.
Espanyol: Lemmens; Domoraud, Lopo, Pochettino, David García; Fredson, Morales, Wome (Vignal 86'); De la Peña (Maxi 81'), Hadji; Tamudo (Jordi Cruyff 74'). 4-3-2-1.

Team changes: Celta: Sergio, Angel, Gustavo López for Cáceres, José Ignacio, Edu / Espanyol: No change.

Goals:
0-1. 29. Tamudo. Cut in past Sergio from left and beat keeper from wide angle.
0-2. 43. Hadji. Fired shot back into empty net after failed clearance by Pinto.
0-3. 64. Tamudo (penalty). After Sergio barged over Tamudo himself in area.
0-4. 82. Sergio (own goal). Turned long Maxi free kick past his own keeper.
0-5. 87. Vignal. Got on the end of long free kick to shoot in from left of goal.
1-5. 89. Edu. Turned ball past Lemmens from close up from Velasco's cross.

Espanyol's recent good form continued, and they kept alive their hopes of survival with a 1-5 win over direct relegation rivals Celta. Tamudo has been on great form recently, and after testing Pinto early on, he gave his side the lead on the half hour mark with a solo effort, turning Sergio inside out near the left corner flag and cutting in to beat the keeper from a wide angle. Then on the stroke of half time he chased down a ball which Pinto was trying to control outside of the area, and forced the keeper into a hurried clearance which went straight to Hadji for him to fire it back into the empty net.

Radomir Antic was less than happy with his players and brought on Edu and Pinilla at the break for Angel and Mostovoi. Pinilla hit the bar with a lob over the keeper soon afterwards, but a few minutes later Sergio barged in to Tamudo as he made another run into the penalty area, referee Losantos Omar awarding a penalty which Tamudo transformed himself, his seventh goal in the last five games.

The game still had almost half an hour to go, but many fans started to leave the stadium in disgust. And things got worse for the Galicians when the unfortunate Sergio turned Hadji's long free kick into his own net and then substitute Vignal got on the end of a Maxi free kick to make it five. Edu did get a late consolation goal when he turned in Velasco's cross, but Espanyol had got their revenge for the 0-4 thrashing they received earlier in the season, and levelled the head to head record into the bargain. The Catalans are now only one point behind their opponents, and with many of the lower positioned sides winning, Celta will have to pick themselves up quickly if they are to continue in the first division next season.