Pizzi seals win for Espanyol

A second-half goal from Pizzi has given Espanyol a 2-1 win over 10-man Malaga in La Liga this evening.

The home side had the majority of the early chances, as Pablo Perez and Sergi Darder both had shots saved in the opening five minutes.

However, it was the visitors that broke the deadlock when Sergio Garcia slid the ball into the bottom corner following a run by Christian Stuani.

Their lead lasted for less than a minute though, as Roque Santa Cruz set Pablo Perez up for the equaliser.

Perez had a chance to put Malaga ahead early in the second half, but his long-range effort failed to find the target.

Espanyol regained the lead inside the final quarter of an hour when a fast break from Garcia set up Pizzi to power the ball home with a curling effort.

The home side's chances of getting back on level terms were dealt a blow less than two minutes later when Perez picked up his second yellow card of the night, leaving them a man short for the final 10 minutes.

Oleksandr Iakovenko came close to levelling the scores late on, but his finish provided an easy save for Francisco Casilla.