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Report · La Liga

Espanyol's captain scores the winner in the week the club sacked his coach

A centre-back settled it. Leandro Cabrera, Espanyol's captain, met Bryan Zaragoza's cross on the hour for a 1-0 win at Villarreal, three days after the club sacked Manolo González.

Editorial board · 30 October 2026
A full Estadio de la Cerámica at night, seen from high in the stand behind one goal, with the players spread across the floodlit pitch.
Estadio de la Cerámica under the lights on a La Liga night. Photo: Frank94Rock / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A centre-back settled it. Leandro Cabrera, Espanyol's captain, met Bryan Zaragoza's cross on the hour for a 1-0 win at Villarreal, three days after the club sacked Manolo González.

Half timeFull time
Villarreal · 4-4-2Espanyol · 4-2-3-1Péter GulácsiGulácsiSantiago MouriñoMouriñoPau NavarroNavarroRenato VeigaVeigaSergi CardonaCardonaTajon BuchananBuchananCarlos MaciàMaciàSanti ComesañaComesañaAlberto MoleiroMoleiroGerard MorenoMorenoGeorges MikautadzeMikautadzeÁngel FortuñoFortuñoOmar El HilaliEl HilaliVanja DrkusicDrkusicLeandro CabreraCabreraRoger HinojoHinojoRafael BauzaBauzaEdu ExpósitoExpósitoAlejandro Santiago VargasSantiago VargasJavi HernandezHernandezBryan ZaragozaZaragozaRoberto FernándezFernández
· Confirmed 19:05 UTC · Line-ups: espn.com

It was a week in which Espanyol were knocked out of the cup by a fourth-tier side, lost their coach and met his successor. Eder Sarabia has the job, but Sergio García, who coaches the reserve side, picked this team, and Cabrera said the players had prepared through talks and video alone: "A coach who comes in and basically has no time to train."

Villarreal lost Gerard Moreno to a muscle injury after 18 minutes and sent on Nicolas Pépé. Espanyol thought they had the lead soon after the break, but Roberto Fernández's goal was ruled out. Cabrera's arrived with the match still level, Zaragoza finding him in the middle of the area and Péter Gulácsi given no chance.

"It takes off a weight we had on us," Cabrera said. "Getting points and getting out of the red zone." He spoke too of González, a coach who had given the squad a great deal and to whom, he said, the team could not give the ending he deserved.

Espanyol are 12th with 11 points, one behind Villarreal in tenth. It is their first league win since they beat Osasuna on 12 September and ends a run of seven league defeats by Villarreal. Sarabia takes over a side out of the bottom three; Villarreal are left with the problems at home that this defeat laid bare.