Two second-half goals allowed Real Zaragoza to claim all three points from their trip to Espanyol this afternoon.

Both sides found goalscoring chances hard to come by during the opening 45 minutes as neither goalkeeper was called into any telling action.

However, visiting Zaragoza posed more of an attacking threat after the restart and broke the deadlock in the 55th minute. Former Sunderland centre-back Paulo Da Silva was the scorer, heading in a corner from close range.

As Espanyol pushed for an equaliser, they were caught on the break in stoppage time as Zaragoza swept forward, ending with a curling effort from Juan Carlos into the net.

The result has failed to lift Zaragoza off the bottom of the table, although they have closed the gap on second-from-bottom Sporting Gijon.