Espanyol extended their unbeaten run in LaLiga to eight matches and climbed to ninth in the table with a 2-1 home victory over Sporting Gijon.Ecuador forward Felipe Caicedo opened the scoring in the 54th minute with a brave header before Leo Baptistao scored a cracker on the break in the final minute.Duje Cop's free-kick in injury time halved the deficit but it was another encouraging result for Quique Sanchez Flores' men.A turgid first half gave way to a more entertaining second and Espanyol forged ahead when Caicedo got away from his markers too easily and headed in Victor Sanchez's free-kick as Pichu Cuellar came out to punch clear.Cuellar breathed a sigh of relief in the 69th minute when a second Caicedo effort was disallowed. The Sporting defence got in a muddle and Cuellar's clearance ricocheted into the net off the South American forward, but he had used his hands to block the ball.Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez made a stunning save to deny Cop an equaliser and Espanyol surged forward to score at the other end.Jurado's pass released Baptistao, who cut in from the right, skipped away from Jorge Mere and Douglas before slotting the ball calmly past Cuellar.Cop's goal was mere consolation for Sporting, who remain in the bottom three having now won just one of their last 12 LaLiga matches.ends