Espanyol defeats Las Palmas 4-3 in Spanish league

Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Espanyol twice relinquished leads and still beat Las Palmas 4-3 in the Spanish league on Friday, keeping alive its hopes of qualifying for the Europa League next season.

The home victory left Espanyol in ninth place, six points behind sixth-place Villarreal, the last team in position to qualify for European competition next season.

Espanyol scored through David Lopez in the first minute and Gerard Moreno just before halftime but failed to hold on to the lead as Mauricio Lemos twice equalized for the visitors.

Pablo Piatti put Espanyol ahead again by converting a penalty kick, and Jose Manuel Jurado added an insurance goal in the 74th.

Mateo Garcia netted Las Palmas' final goal in the 84th.

Las Palmas stayed in 12th place.

Barcelona leads the league by one point more than Madrid, which has a game in hand at Celta Vigo.