Espanyol beat Bilbao to keep pressure on Barcelona

MADRID (Reuters) - Espanyol swept into second place in La Liga after a Borja Iglesias first half strike secured them a 1-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Monday.

Rubi, appointed as coach in June, has overseen a sensational start to the season by the Catalan club who have 21 points from 11 games, three behind leaders Barcelona.

Iglesias headed in Didac Vila's perfectly placed cross three minutes before half time to earn his side a fifth consecutive home league win.

Bilbao, who struck the post through Inaki Williams, are 17th after going 10 games without a win, with their only triumph coming on the first weekend of the season against Leganes.

(Reporting by Rik Sharma, editing by Pritha Sarkar)