Espanyol earn promotion to LaLiga with playoff win over Oviedo

:Espanyol beat Real Oviedo 2-0 in the second leg of the LaLiga promotion playoffs on Sunday to seal their return to the Spanish top flight next season.

A quickfire double by captain Javi Puado just before halftime earned Espanyol a 2-0 home victory after forward Alexandre Alemao's first-half strike gave Oviedo a 1-0 win in the first leg last week.

Their aggregate 2-1 win secured Espanyol's comeback to LaLiga after one season, following their relegation at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

It was Espanyol's second promotion in three years after they had returned to the top tier in 2021 as Segunda Division winners.

Espanyol join Leganes and Valladolid, who won automatic promotion after finishing first and second respectively in the second tier last season.