A tight first half was lit up by Tiago’s brilliant strike on the half-hour mark and while Deportivo improved after the break, they had to wait until the closing stages to equalise.
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Atletico Madrid missed the chance to go top of La Liga after Deportivo’s Lucas Perez cancelled out Tiago’s volley in a 1-1 draw at the Riazor.
Deportivo were more adventurous in the second half as they pressed for an equaliser, and while Atletico were doing well to protect their lead, a mistake from Jose Gimenez 13 minutes from time would end up costing them dear.
It was Perez’s sixth goal of the campaign, matching his tally from the whole of last season.
Manager Diego Simeone’s side sit behind the superpowers of Real Madrid and Barcelona in the third spot but closed the gap to only one point.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone started the match with the same lineup that defeated Valencia 2-1 in the last round, with Antoine Griezmann and Colombia forward Jackson Martinez in attack.
The Colchoneros then had a golden scoring opportunity just before halftime but were denied first by the post, which got in the way of a Godin header, and then by a German Lux save.
Laure and Cartabia then combined well but Oblak saved the latter’s effort comfortably before again stopping a speculative effort from the Argentine midfielder.
Lucas’s harrying of Gimenez paid off and with just 12 minutes to go, he kept his nerve to beat Oblak from close range.
Faycal Fajr could have snatched all three points for Deportivo in the dying moments of the match, but the crossbar was there to prevent a dramatic turnaround.
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Galician club have also very recently learned that they have two months to find €1.5M to increase their base capital in order to abide by the rules of the competition, so their fans will certainly have more motives to try to help their club and perhaps send a few messages in this game against Atletico.
