Espanyol held to draw by Getafe

Ten-man Espanyol moved up to fourth place in La Liga despite being held to a 1-1 draw by midtable Getafe. Espanyol were looking to bounce back from a surprise defeat against bottom side Zaragoza last week, which brought to an end a seven-match unbeaten run, but they started slowly as Abdelaziz Barrada and Jaime Gavilan missed chances to put Getafe in front. Espanyol had openings of their own with Philippe Coutinho in particular shooting just wide before the break. Nicolas 'Miku' Fedor saw a header well-saved by Espanyol goalkeeper Francisco Casilla after 65 minutes before substitute Alvaro Vazquez clinically finished to give Espanyol the lead. The advantage lasted less than a minute, though, as Miku was hauled down by Thievy Bifouma with Miku himself dispatching the penalty. Casilla was the busier of the two goalkeepers, while Getafe were unable to take advantage when Espanyol defender Ernesto Galan was given a second yellow card with ten minutes to go.