Almeria beats Espanyol 3-1 to stay unbeaten after World Cup

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Almeria eased to a 3-1 win over Espanyol at home on Friday and remained unbeaten since the Spanish league restarted following the World Cup.

Colombian striker Luis Súarez scored in the 21st minute for his first goal since joining Almeria on loan from Marseille at the start of the month.

Former Espanyol forward Leo Baptistao doubled the lead in the 61st, and Gonzalo Melero set up Francisco Portillo to make it a rout in the 77th.

Espanyol striker Joselu Mato got the visitors' goal in stoppage time. Joselu's 11 goals are second only to the 13 of Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski.

Almeria, which was promoted for this season, has gone undefeated in five league games since the end of December.

Rubi’s Almeria is also proving to be one of the strongest teams at home with six wins in 10 games.

Its win over Espanyol lifted it into 11th place with the season at its midway point. Espanyol fell to 14th.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports