Espanyol rediscovered its winning form thanks to the return
of striker Pablo Osvaldo, who scored his seventh goal after surging into the
area after eight minutes.
Luis Garcia converted a penalty kick in the 30th after Marc
Callejon was tripped inside the area. Garcia found Alvaro Vazquez racing down
the middle of the area in the 34th and the 19-year-old striker flicked it past
goalkeeper Leo Franco with the outside of his foot for 3-0.
Garcia then spotted Sergio Garcia alone in the 87th for an
easy goal into an empty net that dropped Zaragoza into last behind Almeria and
Sporting on goal difference with all three teams tied on 13 points in the
relegation places.
Diego Castro scored during injury-time for Sporting Gijon,
which saw its winless run stretch to 11 games despite a 1-1 draw at Racing
Santander.
Sporting coach Manuel Preciado remained winless at El
Sardinero stadium, but his team erased Gregory Arnolin's own-goal in the 30th
to move off the foot of the table.
Osasuna and Getafe played to a 0-0 draw while Mallorca made
up for its midweek Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Almeria with a 4-1 victory.
Mallorca was the better team from Ivan Ramis' 12th-minute
opener, with Mallorca striker Victor Casadesus making it 2-0 before the break.
While Albert Crusat pulled one back for Almeria in the 66th,
Pierre Webo returned the hosts' two-goal advantage a minute later against the
run of play. Michael Pereira added a fourth for Mallorca with two minutes to
play.
Getafe joined Atletico Madrid in sixth place, while Osasuna
is winless in six rounds.
Real Madrid plays Villarreal later Sunday, when Valencia and
Levante met in a city derby.
