RCD Espanyol's Wu Lei scores a goal during a Spanish league match between RCD Espanyol and Alaves in Barcelona, Spain, June 13, 2020. (PHOTO BY GOSA / XINHUA)

MADRID - Chinese international striker Wu Lei's second half goal helped bottom of the table Espanyol to three vital points in their 2-0 win at home to Alaves on Saturday and helped him end a jinx going back to the start of the season.

The striker was back in action after recovering from the coronavirus at the end of March, producing a man-of-the-match performance which also saw him help provoke a red card for visiting keeper Fernando Pacheco, who was sent off for handing the ball outside of his penalty area.

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However, before Saturday Wu Lei had not played in a league win for Espanyol in the entire season. Prior to the Alaves match, he had played in 22 out of 27 league games without being on the winning team once as he took part in just seven draws and 15 defeats.

The striker has been included in every Espanyol squad since the start of the season, with the coincidence that the five games where he remained on the subs' bench for all 90 minutes saw the Barcelona-based club collect four wins and a draw.

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The seven points from 22 games when Wu Lei played are just 10.6 percent of the total of 66 available points, while the 13 points from 15 when he was on the bench is 87 percent of the total - something that is hard to understand given his obvious ability and popularity with the Espanyol fans.

The club will be hoping that Saturday is a turning point as they continue their battle to climb out of the bottom three with a difficult visit to Getafe on Tuesday evening.