Deportivo rescue late point; Granada earn important win in La Liga
Alberto Lopo scored with the last kick of the match as Deportivo La Coruna snatched a dramatic 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao which gives them a fighting chance of escaping the bottom three in the Primera Division.
The visitors trailed to Aritz Aduriz's goal for much of the contest but Lopo's header three minutes into stoppage-time sparked wild celebrations among the visiting players.
The draw is not enough to lift Depor out of the bottom three but they are level on points with Eibar, who hold the last position of safety.
However, the result is a sucker punch for Athletic in their hunt for a Europa League spot. Ernesto Valverde's men return to seventh spot in the table but with no breathing space over Espanyol.
Things looked to be going Bilbao's way when, after Inaki Williams and Mikel Rico had forced early saves from Depor goalkeeper Fabricio, they took the lead in the 15th minute.
Etxebarria Benat's punt forward fell for Aymeric Laporte, who played the ball into the heart of the area for Aduriz to finish with a header.
However, Depor soon picked up the pace and had chances to equalise before the interval. Luisinho carved a path through the home defence after 30 minutes but his final effort was weak, while Alex Bergantinos had the ball in the back of the net 11 minutes later but was deemed to be in an offside position when he met Celso Borges' assist.
The shots continued to rain in from both sides after the break and Athletic substitute Markel Susaeta came close on the hour mark with a volley which almost caught out Fabricio.
Oriol Riera then headed narrowly over for Depor while Aduriz should have had a second for the home side after 70 minutes. Bergantinos' slip in midfield allowed Williams to sneak in and get the ball over to the veteran forward, whose shot sailed over the head of Fabricio before striking the crossbar.
But it was the visitors who ramped up the pressure in the dying stages and the breakthrough finally came with the final whistle looming, when Ricardo Ivan Cavaleiro's neat ball into the box was finished by the head of Lopo.
Granada 2, Cordoba 0
Granada ensured they remain in the fight to avoid relegation by beating Cordoba 2-0 in an Andalusian derby at El Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium, with the visitors finishing the game with nine men.
Inigo Lopez was given his marching orders on the half hour and Diego Mainz capitalised by giving Granada the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Youssef El Arabi scored from the spot midway through the second half to finish off the game as a contest, which became even more one-sided when Fede Cartabia talked himself into a red card later on with 12 minutes to go.
This was Granada's second victory in a row under new coach Jose Ramon Sandoval, who in just two games in charge has pulled off back-to-back wins, something his predecessors Abel Resino and Joaquin Caparros failed to do this season.
Granada stay in the relegation zone but move on to 31 points and are now level with Eibar, who lost 2-0 to Espanyol on Friday and occupy the last position outside the bottom three.
Cordoba were relegated to the Segunda Division A last week, and despite the insistence from their players they would give everything in their remaining matches, they were the second best team on the pitch for the 90 minutes, leaking goalscoring chances even when they had 11 men on the pitch.
The first opportunity fell to El Arabi following an early corner but he failed to hit the target, while goalkeeper Juan Carlos had to save efforts from Mainz and Piti.
Granada began to dominate the play even more once Lopez was shown a second yellow card for a foul on El Arabi, with Jean-Sylvain Babin hitting the post and Ruben Perez going close before Mainz broke the deadlock just before the break.
Piti, a former charge of Sandoval with Rayo Vallecano, swung in a free-kick and Mainz evaded his marker Deivid to head in a third goal in six games.
Granada continued to call the shots in the second half and El Arabi doubled their lead from the spot after Ruben Rochina was fouled by Aleksandar Pantic, adding to the two goals he scored against Getafe last week.
Cordoba have not won a single game in the second half of the season and Cartabia's display of petulance summed up their disastrous campaign.
The Argentinian was awarded a foul but demanded a yellow card for his opponent and instead received two bookings himself in a matter of seconds for shouting repeatedly at referee Fernando Teixiera Vitienes.
