Deportivo La Coruna 2 : 2 Rayo Vallecano - Late drama as Depor snatch a point

Posted Monday, September 01, 2014 by PA

Isaac Cuenca kept his cool to slot home a stoppage-time penalty and salvage a 2-2 draw for Deportivo La Coruna at home to Rayo Vallecano.

Depor were beaten 2-1 in their season-opener at Granada last weekend after losing an early lead and it looked set to be an identical story on Sunday as Alberto Bueno's brace for Rayo cancelled out Jose Rodriguez's opener for the the hosts.

However, with three minutes of added time almost up, Depor won a penalty when Abdoulaye Ba handled in the box and Cuenca stepped up to earn the promoted side their first point since returning to the top flight.

Rayo will have been frustrated they could not hold on for a win to add to Monday's impressive goalless draw with champions Atletico Madrid, but Depor will feel they were at least deserving of a point.

The Galician side were quickly out of the blocks and visiting keeper Cristian Alvarez had already produced one fine save to deny Jose Toche before Rodriguez slotted the home side into a seventh-minute lead.

Cuenca, who left Barcelona this summer, had two chances to put Depor further in front before Rayo got back on level terms through Bueno in the 40th minute, the former Real Madrid player heading home Javier Aquino's cross.

Rayo started the second half on the front foot and Gael Kakuta, Alberto Manucho, Ba and Bueno all tried their luck without success.

The visitors were then indebted to another fine stop from Alvarez to keep out Luis Farina's 67th-minute effort, and Rayo made the most of that let off by taking the lead five minutes later.

It was the same combination involved as for the first goal, with Bueno getting on the end of Aquino's ball into the area to slot home from close range.

That looked set to be the winner as Pablo Insua and Cuenca missed chances to draw Depor level, but with time almost up the 2000 Spanish champions were given the opportunity to snatch a point thanks to Ba's handball, and Cuenca made no mistake.