Gerard Moreno struck late to hand Espanyol a shock 1-0 victory against visitors Real Madrid at the RCDE Stadium in La Liga on Tuesday.
Keeping an eye on a crucial Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, Zidane opted to start with an experimental starting XI, but Madrid might have been ahead inside the opening exchanges had Gareth Bale been able to head Achraf Hakimi’s cross either side of Diego Lopez.
Madrid held much of the ball inside the opening exchanges and they appeared dangerous again when Mateo Kovacic fed Isco on the overlap, who saw his chipped effort into the danger zone tipped over the crossbar by a leaping Lopez.
For all of their dominance on the ball, Madrid failed to threaten too often for the remainder of the first half, instead Espanyol almost went in front when Gerard Moreno capitalised on a poor pass from Raphael Varane, only to see Keylor Navas make a vital save with his legs.
Perhaps the greatest controversy of the opening 45 minutes came soon after, when an effort from outside of the box deflected kindly into the path of Moreno, who then turned unmarked inside the box to send a shot beyond Navas. The frontman was instantly denied by the linesman’s flag, although replays suggested that Moreno might just have been kept onside by Real youngster Marcos Llorente.
Bale had a quiet first half but he was left frustrated when he drilled an effort towards goal at the back post, only to see it cannon into the body of Victor Sanchez who appeared to block the ball with his arm when sliding across the deck.
Espanyol started the second period brightly and they were unlucky when Sergio García broke free before seeing his shot from an acute angle kept out by Navas despite the keeper looking less than assured at his near post.
Again Real struggled in the final third and eventually opted to introduce Karim Benzema, but the Frenchman could do very little to impact a defensively adroit Espanyol side, who defended in numbers to keep Madrid quiet.
The hosts might just have grabbed a winner just over 10 minutes from time too, but Navas responded well to meet Moreno’s pinpoint header with a smart diving save.
The crucial moment arrived with what was essentially one of the final kicks of the game, however, as Moreno broke free inside the box to volley down low past Navas and hand Espanyol a memorable victory.
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