Madrid get one last corner down their left as Vila heads out for safety's sake. Courtois comes forward for it! The visitors take it short and cross at the second opportunity but it sails over Courtois' head and out for another goal-kick. Diego Lopez sends it upfield and that's it! Espanyol have won!
90' +3
Melamed tries to beat two Madrid men near their corner flag but is unsuccessful. Moreno appeals for calm as another Madrid passing move ends in a goal-kick.
90' +1
One of Espanyol's coaches receives a red card for his reaction to Vazquez stopping Melamed's run. A free-kick is all Espanyol will get.
90'
The Espanyol fans are in a celebratory mood now but the hosts haven't won this game yet. There'll be five minutes of additional time.
88'
Alaba fires the free-kick straight into David Lopez's face and Benzema's floated follow-up drifts harmlessly out of play. Ancelotti holds his hands up to his face.
87'
Espanyol briefly bustle into Madrid's penalty area but can't create a clear scoring opportunity. Rodrygo wins Madrid a free-kick in a central position. It looks like Alaba will take it.
83'
Espanyol's fans whistle as Madrid get ever closer to finding an equaliser. Hazard blasts home a lovely strike from Benzema's layoff but the Madrid captain was just offside beforehand.
82'
David López enters the game and replaces Darder.
Darder is next to go off. Espanyol's defensive midfielder David Lopez comes on.
81'
Dídac Vilá enters the game and replaces Óscar Gil.
Espanyol bring on some more players to shore themselves up. Vila replaces Gil at full-back.
Minute
Description
80'
Benzema's header from the corner is off-target. There's a stoppage in play as Gil receives treatment for cramp.
79'
Óscar Gil gets yellow.
Gil's booked for talking too much as Espanyol are unhappy with Madrid taking a free-kick quickly. Rodrygo darts down the right and knocks the ball off Pedrosa for a corner.
77'
Madrid's latest attack breaks down and Espanyol welcome the opportunity to race out. De Tomas takes a cross down in the box but the hosts aren't able to make the most of it.
75'
Alaba fires a free-kick high and wide from outside the box after a collision between Melamed and Militao.
73'
De Tomas is caught offside from Bare's throughball. Espanyol are finding themselves under increasing pressure now that Madrid have changed formation.
72'
E. Hazard enters the game and replaces Vinícius Júnior.
Madrid substitution. Vinicius goes off. Hazard takes up his task down Madrid's left.
71'
K. Benzema has scored a goal for Real Madrid! Assist by L. Jović.
GOAL! ESPANYOL 2-1 REAL MADRID! Madrid have a lifeline as Benzema receives a pass from Jovic to dribble inside the box and smash the ball into the bottom right corner. Espanyol were guilty of leaving themselves too open to Madrid's counter-attack.
Jovic's introduction has helped Madrid as they are now looking more lively. Now they're just a goal behind again, they might still have a chance of getting a draw out of this.
69'
Espanyol are finding even more space in behind Madrid now. Melamed tries and fails to get past Courtois after bustling into the box. Benzema nods wide from Alaba's cross and Courtois stops De Tomas' strike from distance.
67'
Madrid have the ball in the net through Jovic but the goal is ruled out for offside. Both Benzema and Jovic were behind Espanyol's defenders as Benzema held up the ball for Jovic to swivel and slot in from close range.
65'
Wu Lei enters the game and replaces Adri Embarba.
Nico Melamed enters the game and replaces Aleix Vidal.
Embarba is also replaced as Espanyol freshen up their flanks. The Chinese international Wu takes his place on Espanyol's left wing.
64'
Espanyol make more changes. Vidal, one of their goalscorers, goes off. It's Melamed's time to shine.
62'
L. Jović enters the game and replaces L. Modrić.
Casemiro enters the game and replaces T. Kroos.
Alaba gets into the box to shoot but it's blocked. Lopez gets in the way of Casemiro's shot from range and Madrid get a corner. The visitors need to score quickly to have any hope of salvaging anything from this game.
61'
Modric is also sacrificed. Madrid have no choice but to go all-out attack now. Jovic is his replacement.
Madrid react immediately. Kroos goes off. Casemiro comes on.
60'
Aleix Vidal has scored a goal for Espanyol! Assist by K. Bare.
GOAL! ESPANYOL 2-0 REAL MADRID! Vidal leaves Madrid in real trouble! Espanyol take the free-kick quickly and Vidal breezes past Nacho to lash the ball past Courtois at his near post!
Bare claims the assist for that goal thanks to his quick thinking. Espanyol are cruising now!
59'
Madrid are disappointed to give away another foul as Militao brings down De Tomas. It turns out they have reason to be unhappy...
58'
Manu Morlanes enters the game and replaces Óscar Melendo.
Espanyol make their first change of the game. Melendo makes way for the Villarreal loanee Morlanes.
56'
Alaba swings a hopeful cross into the box that's dealt with by Espanyol's defenders. Nacho steams in on Vidal from behind to give the hosts a welcome free-kick.
55'
Alaba strays offside as he's too eager to reach a pass down the line. Madrid really need to step things up now if they're to find a equaliser.
53'
De Tomas twists this way and that to keep Espanyol moving. Embarba tries to shift onto his right foot to cross from the left of the penalty area but loses his footing at the vital moment.
51'
Diego Lopez waves his teammates upfield and punts the goal-kick forward. Pedrosa and Embarba combine down the left but the former can't keep the ball in play.
49'
Espanyol defend the corner well, but Madrid quickly come again, forcing another down the opposite side. This is better from the visitors.
48'
Madrid continue their dominance of the ball without making much headway. Benzema leaps to reach Modric's outside-of-the-foot cross and the visitors are awarded a corner.
47'
Espanyol get the second half started. Let's see whether Madrid improve after their half-time change.
46'
Rodrygo enters the game and replaces E. Camavinga.
Ancelotti makes a substitution during the break. Camavinga gets hooked after a poor first half. Rodrygo replaces him.
45'
Alaba takes his time to fire a cross in as we enter one minute of added time. Espanyol deal with it comfortably and counter, and De Tomas fires over from outside the box. That's that for now!
HALF-TIME: ESPANYOL 1-0 REAL MADRID
44'
Gil finds the time and space to fire high and wide from outside the box. Madrid won't want to let that happen too often.
43'
Now Espanyol get a corner down their left. Madrid clear it at the first attempt.
41'
Militao nods wide from Alaba's free-kick. Camavinga complains of having his shirt pulled after falling over in the build-up but the referee isn't interested.
40'
Madrid earn a corner down their right as Pedrosa blocks Vazquez's shot. Again, though, it comes to nothing. The visitors soon get a free-kick down their left though as Vinicius is bundled over.
38'
Espanyol have a penalty appeal waved away as De Tomas trips in the box. Madrid haven't been able to cope with the hosts' energy in this first half.
36'
The fans in the RCDE Stadium are making some racket. It's a great atmosphere in the ground and it seems to be working in Espanyol's favour so far. The offside flag goes up against Alaba.
34'
Espanyol easily clear Kroos' corner from the left. The hosts haven't really been troubled by Madrid as of yet.
33'
Vinicius teases Gil down Madrid's left but the eventual ball into the box is poor. Benzema takes matters into his own hands and wins Madrid a corner.
31'
Vazquez flings a high cross into Espanyol's penalty area and Cabrera heads it away. The home fans are incensed as the Madrid full-back wins a free-kick while Embarba tries to get forward on the counter.
29'
E. Camavinga gets yellow.
Camavinga's shown a yellow card for a sliding tackle on Bare. It wasn't a pretty tackle and Bare stays down to receive some treatment.
27'
Melendo receives a pass in midfield and dribbles forward before feeding Embarba down the left. Madrid cut the move out, but the league leaders are on the back foot at the moment.
25'
Madrid haven't quite found their rhythm yet. Camavinga carelessly lets the ball roll out of play to hand Espanyol a throw-in down their right.
23'
Espanyol get a free-kick in Madrid's half and fire the ball in from the right. De Tomas goes down as he looks to latch onto it at the far post but there's no sign of a penalty.
21'
Espanyol win possession in midfield and race forward but it comes to nothing. Up the other end, Benzema's long-range effort is caught by Diego Lopez.
19'
Militao spots Diego Lopez off his line and optimistically floats a chipped ball towards goal. It lands harmlessly on top of the Espanyol goalkeeper's net.
18'
Embarba did well to put the ball into the danger area from the flank and Madrid had no answer. The visitors have some work to do!
17'
Raúl de Tomás has scored a goal for Espanyol! Assist by Adri Embarba.
GOAL! ESPANYOL 1-0 REAL MADRID! De Tomas hands Espanyol the lead, rifling the ball home from close range! It comes from a simple cross as Embarba whips the ball into the six-yard box from the right.
15'
Melendo gets sandwiched between Camavinga and Kroos and is awarded a free-kick. Espanyol have made a promising start to the game.
13'
Gill gets the decision as Camavinga trips him in his own half. Madrid come forward again and Benzema rolls a tame shot into Diego Lopez's arms from the centre of the box.
11'
Adri Embarba gets yellow.
Embarba commits a poor challenge on Camavinga as Madrid go on the attack. The Espanyol man is shown a yellow card.
7'
Espanyol see out the corner as Camavinga brings down Melendo from behind. Diego Lopez is unhappy with the challenge and makes his feelings known to the referee.
6'
Madrid pop the ball around, allowing Vinicius to gallop down the left. Alaba arrives on the overlap and forces the first corner of the game.
4'
Benzema forces a decent catch from Diego Lopez as Pedrosa's backpass rolls straight through to Vinicius who lays off for the Frenchman.
3'
Camavinga's cross from the left is cleared by Espanyol. The hosts are staying compact behind the ball. No doubt they'll be looking to emulate Sheriff's successful approach to facing Madrid earlier this week.
2'
The game gets off to a feisty start as Kroos brings down Melendo near the halfway line. Pedrosa jinks down the left for Espanyol and Militao successfully earns a free-kick.
1'
The visitors Madrid get this game underway!
Hello! Welcome to our live text commentary of this LaLiga match between Espanyol and Real Madrid at RCDE Stadium.
Early league leaders Madrid can regain a three-point lead at the top of the table with a win here after cross-city rivals Atletico Madrid dispatched Barcelona earlier this weekend. If Carlo Ancelotti's men can avoid defeat here, they'll make it 19 games unbeaten on the road in LaLiga, their best such run in the competition's history.
ESPANYOL (4-1-4-1): Diego Lopez (c); Oscar Gil, Sergi Gomez, Leandro Cabrera, Adria Pedrosa; Keidi Bare; Aleix Vidal, Oscar Melendo, Sergi Darder, Adrian Embarba; Raul de Tomas.
SUBS: Alvaro Vadillo, Landry Dimata, David Lopez, Gori, Loren Moron, Alvaro Garcia, Dídac Vila, Pere Joan, Manuel Morlanes, Wu Lei, Nicolas Melamed.
REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Thibaut Courtois; Lucas Vazquez, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Nacho; Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos; Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema (c), Vinícius Junior.
SUBS: Luis Lopez, Jesus Vallejo, Andriy Lunin, Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Rodrygo, Miguel Gutierrez, Casemiro.
After picking up their first win of the season here last week with a 1-0 victory over Alaves, Espanyol will be looking to record back-to-back home wins in LaLiga for the first time since May 2019 as they continue to adjust to life back in the Spanish top flight.
The teams come out onto the pitch at a lively RCDE Stadium. The two captains Diego Lopez and Benzema greet each other warmly in the centre circle.
Espanyol will be delighted with the win, then, while Madrid will once again rue their lack of cutting edge having dominated a game. Ancelotti has to get his team firing if this bumpy spell isn't to become symbolic of their season. That's all for now. Goodbye!
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