Espanyol booked their first win of the La Liga campaign with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Levante at RCTC Stadium on Saturday. Roberto Fernandez Jaen struck twice to open the scoring before T. Dolan added a third late on, leaving the home side with maximum points after the opening round.
Fernandez Jaen was the architect from the first whistle, producing two clinical finishes inside the opening forty minutes. His opener came in the fifth minute, and he doubled Espanyol's advantage just before the break with a second goal in quick succession. The hosts never looked back after that, and here's the thing — Levante never really got their footing.
T. Dolan made it three in the 80th minute, and was promptly replaced himself in the 81st. The rest of the second half played out with Espanyol controlling territory and Levante chasing shadows. Yellow cards for U. Gonzalez, A. Calatrava and J. Hernandez marked a fractious afternoon, while Levante's goalkeeper was called into action only three times.
The statistics tell the story plainly. Espanyol registered twelve shots, six on target, against Levante's five attempts with none finding the net. Expected goals figures of 1.55 to 0.28 reflect the gulf in quality, and Espanyol created two big chances compared to Levante's zero. possession sat at 54 per cent for the home side.
By then the result was already settled, and the table positions shifted accordingly. Espanyol move into 14th place on three points after one win from three games, while Levante drop to 10th with four points from their opening trio of fixtures.