Sevilla 3 Deportivo La Coruna 3: Laure strike earns point

Posted Saturday, January 29, 2011 by PA

Sevilla 3 Deportivo La Coruna 3: Laure strike earns point Laure's late equaliser secured a dramatic 3-3 Primera Division draw for Deportivo La Coruna after 10-man Sevilla had battled from two goals down to lead 3-2 at the Riazor.

Lassad Nouioui's superb strike lit up an otherwise dull first half and his second goal, soon after the 58th-minute dismissal of Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop, looked to have put the hosts on course to end their three-game losing run.

However, that sparked the visitors into life and two goals from Alvaro Negredo and one from Julien Escude turned the game on its head in a stunning second half.

And there was still time for Laure to have the final word, shooting across substitute keeper Javi Varas to salvage a point for Depor despite offside protestations from the visitors.

Deportivo had the first sight of goal in the 10th minute when Manuel Pablo burst down the left and crossed for Adrian Lopez, but the ball was just behind the Spain Under-21 forward and he could not direct it on target.

Five minutes later, though, the hosts were ahead.

Lassad took advantage as Sevilla defenders backed off, bursting towards the visitors' goal before unleashing an unstoppable shot which gave Palop no chance and flew into the top-right corner.

Sevilla were restricted to long-range efforts from Alejandro Alfaro and Alvaro Negredo, neither of which seriously tested Daniel Aranzubia, as a disappointing first half petered out.

Gregorio Manzano's team started the second period with more purpose but suffered a setback 12 minutes in when Palop misjudged his positioning and handled outside the area. He was shown a straight red card, with Jari Varas brought on between the posts in his place at the expense of Diego Capel.

It did not take long for Depor to make the extra man count. Just after the hour, Manuel Pablo's neat ball inside Alexis was perfectly weighted into the path of Adrian, who unselfishly played the ball along the six-yard box for an unmarked Lassad to tap home at the far post.

The home fans inside the half-full Riazor were not able to enjoy their two-goal lead for long, though, with Negredo capitalising on a lucky break to pull one back within 60 seconds.

Depor thought they had gone 3-1 up moments later but Adrian's strike was ruled out for offside.

Ten-man Sevilla then turned the match on its head.

Luis Fabiano's free-kick was fumbled by Aranzubia and Escude slid in to prod home the rebound to equalise and, before the hosts could compose themselves, Negredo took down Mouhamadou Dabo's cross-field pass on his chest and fired a left-footed shot across Aranzubia 11 minutes from time.

Luis Fabiano stung fingertips of Aranzubia two minutes later with a brilliant 25-yard shot which looked destined for the top-left corner.

But the game's final goal came at the other end, Laure lashing across Javi Varas with two minutes left. The referee awarded the goal despite his assistant flagging for offside - much to the dismay of the Sevilla players.