Las Palmas ran away with a 4-0 victory over Espanyol. The hosts scored three second half goals, brushing aside their lowly visitors. Jonathan Viera played a huge role in this match, assisting on three goals while scoring one of his own.
Las Palmas looked the more aggressive of the two sides in the early goings. Momo got free down the left hand side in the opening minute before whipping a cross towards the six yard box. His delivery though, missed the head of a jumping Willian Jose by mere inches.
Momo, the 33-year-old midfielder, wreaked havoc on Espanyol's defense often. He sent another glorious ball onto the head of Pedro Biguas, but the ensuing header fell wide of the right post. Then Momo fed Willian Jose again who had a go from well outside the area. Jose's attempt though, was poor as the Espanyol goalkeeper caught it with ease.
Espanyol finally got a chance inside of their final third of the pitch on the half hour mark. Burgui lifted a ball up and over the top of the defense finding a wide open Hernan Pérez. The ensuing effort was very poor as he missed the wide open target, hitting the side netting.
The best chance of the opening half came with five minutes remaining when Raúl made a good reaction save. Joan Jordan hit a wicked dipping shot from just outside the area. It forced the Las Palmas goalkeeper to dive down to his left to parry the ball out for a corner.
Hosts finally break the deadlock
Las Palmas had been the better side throughout a majority of the opening 45 minutes. And the goal, which they had been in search for, came on the stroke of halftime. Victor Álvarez, the Espanyol left-back, was playing too narrow. This allowed Nabil El Zhar to find space down the right hand side. Jonathan Viera still had to thread a perfectly weighted pass to El Zhar which he did. Then, El Zhar worked his way into the area before beating Giedrius Arlauskis wide from a tight angle.
Las Palmas score three to clinch victory
Four minutes after the restart, the hosts doubled their lead. Pedro Bigas made a 30-yard run into the attacking half without much pressure. His initial pass went to Willian Jose who forced the Espanyol goalkeepe to make a diving stop. The rebound though fell straight to Viera who buried his right-footed shot.
There was a third goal, seven minutes later, scored by Bigas that truly put the match to rest. Las Palmas worked a short free kick which had Viera in acres of space. The Las Palmas native fired a cross towards the middle of the area. Bigas rose above the rest of the defenders and nodded a header into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
The fourth and final goal, in the 75th minute, was perhaps the best of the bunch. A cross off of a corner deflected high into the air. Mubarak Wakaso read the bounce and hit a powerful volley that rocketed into the top right corner. His shot was hit with such venom that no goalkeeper in the world could have stopped it.