Espanyol put three past Levante in dream start to new LaLiga season

[p][b]Hoping to continue their strong momentum from the end of last season, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/espanyol/QFfPdh1J/"]Espanyol[/a] were off to the perfect start inside just five minutes, after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/exposito-edu/SChm1pCo/"]Edu Exposito[/a]’s free-kick found its way to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandez-roberto/l2dekgrS/"]Roberto Fernandez[/a], who poked in off the far post.[/b][/p][embed guid="7d1eb060-27ec-4306-aa26-4fa0e7818f25" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2089039013269176445" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hernandez-javier/8QF1BiDA/"]Javi Hernandez[/a] was equally as threatening for the hosts, and he forced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ryan-mathew/YBLvziIh/"]Mathew Ryan[/a] to parry away his fierce strike from the edge of the box.[/p][p]The Australian also had to be alert to prevent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/calatrava-alex/b13gbSqm/"]Alex Calatrava[/a] from opening his Espanyol account, as the new signing cut inside onto his left foot before firing towards the bottom corner, only for Ryan to crucially palm away.[/p][p][b]However, the hosts would double their lead before half-time, with Fernandez grabbing a first-half brace as he tapped home [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cucho-hernandez/65KF7LTO/"]Hernandez[/a]’s whipped cross to finish off a free-flowing move. [/b][/p][p]The latter could have then put the game to bed, but could only curl over in a promising position.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/levante/G8FL0ShI/"]Levante[/a] failed to offer much in response, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/romero-ivan/lbxUqXq3/"]Ivan Romero[/a] perhaps having their best chance as he dragged a shot from distance wide, with the visitors not managing a shot on target.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="5b554683-efc4-4322-b68a-b536a8efff9c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="8c43bf10-8b9f-4cab-b529-f5803eb9bbd2" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]Unfortunately for Levante, only one team looked like scoring in the second half, and it was not them.[/p][p]Espanyol should have extended their advantage before the hour mark, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dolan-tyrhys/8plzNuNt/"]Tyrhys Dolan[/a] fired agonisingly past the post, before Ryan got behind Hernandez’s effort from close range.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/etta-eyong/GCAtruQb/"]Karl Etta Eyong[/a] then headed over in a rare attack for the Granotes, but they were largely second-best.[/p][p][b]The latter stages gave a chance for young [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bauza-rafel/jcshWJpG/"]Rafel Bauza[/a] to impress, and after dribbling down the wing, he squared for Dolan to swiftly turn before drilling into the far bottom corner from the edge of the area.[/b][/p][embed guid="bb7c3d2b-98d9-4bfc-bd63-ff79b63fea9f" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2089062584326455717" social-type="twitter" /][p]It was a comfortable victory for the Periquitos in the end, and they can now look back on successive LaLiga season-opening wins for the first time since 2001. Today’s result is also just their second success in nine LaLiga curtain-raisers (D4, L3).[/p][p]Contrastingly, Levante are now winless in their last five season-opening matches in the top flight (D1, L4), and after also having a strong end to last season, they are back to the drawing board.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandez-roberto/l2dekgrS/"]Roberto Fernandez[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/espanyol/QFfPdh1J/"]Espanyol[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/espanyol-QFfPdh1J/levante-G8FL0ShI/?mid=4ve9lHOQ"]Catch up on all the match stats here.[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="ec74e862-e221-4cca-911d-224836e2362d" /]