Premiera Liga Reaction: Valverde Feels Derby
Delight
Ernesto Valverde dedicated RCD Espanyol's
stunning derby victory against FC Barcelona to the club's
supporters, who revelled in beating their city rivals.
Goals from Luis García, Raúl Tamudo and Rufete gave los Periquitos
a 3-1 victory in Montjuïc and ended Barça's run of four consecutive
wins at the stadium.
"We are happy for our supporters because this was a true derby and
they responded to all the expectations," Valverde explained.
"The result was justified, although I actually believe that we
could have score more goals.
"I believe that the key to the game was my team's reaction after
Barcelona drew level. We had to start over again having had
everything going in our favour and I think we did that very
quickly.
"We had some bad moments from the tenth minute on as we found it
quite difficult to create chances until we finally found a way
through."
Despite leading with five minutes of injury time remaining,
Valverde believes that Rufete's late third goal was crucial.
"At 2-1 we were doing things well, but we had to still be careful
because knew that Barcelona still had a chance to do something," he
said, before going on to praise the fans.
"They were spectacular and supported us all the way through. They
have become somewhat accustomed to suffering and today they were
able to feel real joy."
