Barcelona club beat Al Wasl 2-0&nbsp; <img src="http://www.persianleague.com/images/pic.gif" border="0" width="13" height="11">

Action from the match between Al Wasl Sports Club (yellow) and Espanyol. ©Gulf

Gulf News - After four telling defeats in the Spanish Premier League this season 2000 King's Cup champions RCD Espanyol de Barcelona were in serious need of a lift and they got it in small measure yesterday when defeating Al Wasl Club in a one-off friendly game on Sunday played under lights.

The host team clearly lacked the strength in depth to cope with the Spanish side and though they briefly held their own, as the visitors struggled to adjust to the hot and humid conditions, it was always going to be a one-sided contest.

Goals from Espanyol's Argen-tinian striker Maxi Rodriguez (42nd minute) and Daniel Jarque (48th minute) sufficed to reduce Al Wasl to a team of faltering players, though their $500,000 Iranian import Farhad Majidi at times looked like he would salvage something for the hosts.

After the match, Espanyol coach Juan de la Cruz Ramos, who is reportedly facing the axe following their dismal form this season in the Spanish Premier League which has resulted in the side scoring just one point from five games, said he was happy with the whole Dubai experience.

"We came here to rediscover ourselves and we have succeeded to do that," he said. "We always believed that we could win, that was not the issue, but we wanted to test ourselves against an unknown team.

"We have heard that the Dubai teams are very competitive and that was what caught our attention. I like the way the Al Wasl team play and with a little more experience I think they can be a good side and come up to European standards."

He advised that the team focus on their fitness and individual skills.

Interestingly skills were at a premium in yesterday's friendly watched by an unusually small crowd of soccer fans at the Al Wasl Stadium.

The all important first goal was scored after a long spell and it was just barely bundled in by Maxi Rodriguez who followed up on a 25-yard piledriver from Juvenal Owono that floored Al Wasl goalkeeper Salah Hussain after he parried the speeding ball on the goalline.

This came just seven minutes after Al Wasl striker Ali Essa came painfully close to opening the scoring when he right-footed a pass from Farhad straight into the Espanyol keeper Sergio Sanchez.

After the break the visitors began in imperious fashion and quickly added their second from a set piece two minutes after resumption.

Shortly before he was substituted Juvenal produced the perfect flag-kick that found an unmarked Daniel Jarque who rose high above the Al Wasl defenders to head the ball into the net.

Thereafter Espanyol had numerous clear-cut opportunities to add to the score but the replacement strikers Luis Miguel Garcia and Marc Bertran lacked both the direction and capacity to do so.

The result did not disconcert the Al Wasl players to the extent of attempting anything that goes against their ingrained good habits on the field as they gave a fine exhibition of friendly soccer played in a most competitive fashion.

Overall there seemed a hesitancy about both teams, with the exception of the outstanding Farhad of Al Wasl and Espanyol's former FC Barcelona player Antonio Velamazan, which perhaps was a result of the high humidity on the evening.

Espanyol are a three-time Spanish Cup winner who finished 10th in the Spanish Premier League last season. They are currently lying at the bottom of the 20-team league having lost four of their five games, which include identical 2-0 defeats to Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

They return home tomorrow and play Hueva at home on Sunday. It is rumoured that a defeat will result in the axing of coach Juan Ramos who has been with the team for the last two seasons.