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Espanyol's night to remember

RCD Espanyol made history by scoring six goals in the UEFA Cup against SV Zulte Waregem - enhancing their chances of a bright future in the competition.

The 9,250 spectators who turned up at the Olímpico de Montjuic Stadium on Thursday night will have been glad they made the effort, as RCD Espanyol treated them to a 6-2 UEFA Cup win against SV Zulte Waregem. The Belgian side had scored seven goals in their first two Group G games, but the emphatic result in the blue-and-white corner of Barcelona leaves Espanyol on maximum points after two matches - and needing a point away to AFC Ajax next week to reach the Round of 32 ahead of schedule.

Club record
The last time Espanyol had scored six goals in a game was more than 50 years ago when they beat Deportivo Alavés 6-0 on 22 April 1956 at their old Sarrià stadium. However, the thrashing of Zulte Waregem sets a European record for a club accustomed to life in the shadow of city rivals FC Barcelona. Their previous best in UEFA competition had been a 4-0 victory against Grazer AK in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup second round first leg.

Vital victory
While Espanyol lie 13th in Spain's Primera División with only one win in their last eight matches, the team top their UEFA Cup section on six points. Hat-trick hero Luis García stressed that "it was an important game and a vital victory against an unbeaten rival. It was a big thing for us to score goals and Ajax's result [a draw at AC Sparta Praha] takes pressure off us."

Perfect match
Another star performer was Walter Pandiani, who scored two headers. "I've always been good with my head because I've played beach volleyball since I was a child and that has turned me into a good jumper," the forward said. The 30-year-old Uruguayan added that he was "happy because things are starting to work and we're slowly improving. We played a perfect match. We worked very hard and deserved our victory."

Final heartache
Progress in the UEFA Cup is particularly important to Espanyol as they hope to banish memories of their penalty shoot-out defeat by Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 1988 final. Coach Ernesto Valverde told uefa.com that "the tournament has a special place for our fans. They've not forgotten that final."

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