Spurs loan watch: La Liga round up

Both of Tottenham Hotspurs' La Liga loanees, Alejo Veliz and Bryan Gil, were in La Liga action this weekend. Veliz's RCD Espanyol played Mallorca, whilst Gil's Girona faced Athletic Club.

For the first time since joining Espanyol, Veliz was played as a lone striker, as manager Manolo Gonzalez moved to a 4231 set up rather than the previous 442 he had been playing.

The Spurs loanee played the first 83 minutes of the game, although only managed one shot. He did win 8/13 duels, draw three fouls, and make three clearances in a battering performance, despite another game without a goal.

In brighter news, Espanyol were able to arrest the slide of three straight defeats by picking up an important win with a 2-1 victory here, despite a lot of late pressure from Mallorca. This win has taken Espanyol up to in the league, with 10 points from their opening nine games back in the top tier of Spanish football.

Meanwhile, Gil was on the bench for Girona, who were looking to get their first victory in seven games in all competitions. The Spurs loanee was introduced for Arnaut Danjuma, with the game level at 1-1 - despite former Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga saving not one, but two penalties from Athletic Club.

Girona would then get a penalty of their own, deep into stoppage time, making it five penalties awarded in their last two games. The veteran Cristhian Stuani, who had only come on minutes before, converted to give Gil's side an absolutely huge three points in La Liga.

This win leaves Girona in 11th place in La Liga, just two points off the European places heading into the October international break.

Next up for Veliz and Espanyol after the break is a game against Athletic Club themselves, meanwhile for Gil and Girona,it is a showdown with surprisingly struggling Real Sociedad.