La Liga: Espanyol 3 Racing Santander 1

19 March 2012 23:58

Espanyol jumped into the top six in La Liga after scoring a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Racing Santander on Monday.

Christian Stuani had put Racing ahead after 12 minutes, but goals from Joan Verdu, Phillippe Coutinho and Hector Moreno helped Espanyol reclaim the lead in front of their home fans, with the dismissal of Marcos Gullon not helping the visitors' cause.

Winless in eight games heading into the match, Racing got off to the perfect start at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat, with Adrian Gonzalez setting up Stuani to stroke home the opener.

Espanyol were level just before the half hour mark though, with Verdu firing home from the edge of the area after Sergio Garcia's pass.

Seven minutes later the hosts were ahead when Coutinho beat goalkeeper Tono with a fierce drive from outside the box.

Racing began the second half searching for a way back into the match, but their hopes of a comeback suffered a blow when Gullon received his second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Verdu.

Racing continued to attack despite being a man down, but Moreno ensured there would be no happy ending for the visitors when he headed home a third for Espanyol with 10 minutes remaining.

Espanyol now have 39 points, just two less than fourth-placed Levante, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot.