Red-hot Wu rides to Espanyol's rescue

Espanyol has changed head coach four times since the offseason and, with Wu never certain of a starting berth this term, this year's relegation battle looks like going right down to the wire.

Responding to concerns over his lack of game time, Wu last week acknowledged that he was enduring a rough patch.

"I don't have much playing time recently, and I've seen many online comments," Wu wrote on his personal blog. "I understand all your concerns. The best that I can do now is to try my best to maintain my condition and train harder and harder. I remember a year before, I scored after coming off the bench. I had the confidence at that time, and I do now.

"Our priority for each game now is to win the three points, and avoiding relegation is the most important goal now. I hope people can focus more on the performance of the team. To get more points, I can't think too much about this. It's not a time to calculate personal gains and losses."

Espanyol head coach Abelardo Fernandez, who was appointed in December, singled out Wu for praise following his scoring exploits at Sevilla. The 49-year-old former Spain international described Wu's performance as "phenomenal" and was particularly pleased with his tireless work rate up front.

Chinese soccer icon Sun Jihai was equally impressed, citing both Wu's strike and South Korean Son Heung-min's late winner for Tottenham Hotspur at Aston Villa as more evidence that Asia's elite players can cut it in the world's top leagues.

"Last night Wu Lei and Son Heung-min both scored significant goals," said former Manchester City defender Sun on Monday. "Both their performances thrilled me… I hope more Asian players can become key players in top European leagues.

"It's not true that Asian players are at a disadvantage in soccer. We should never be trapped by this idea. We can't doubt ourselves even before we walk into battle. I'm expecting Wu Lei to produce even better performances in La Liga in the near future."

Wu's goals helped Shanghai SIPG to the 2018 Chinese Super League title, however rather than remain in his comfort zone, he decided to test himself at a higher level.

"Like I said many times, I want to enjoy the pure soccer environment here," Wu wrote on his blog. "So I need to face the positive competition inside this team. The only way to grow stronger is to face the difficulty directly. I will make more contributions to my team with a better mentality."