Villarreal late show breaks Alaves hearts in exciting draw

Audio By Carbonatix

VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain (AP) — Villarreal equalized 1-1 deep in stoppage time and broke the hearts of relegation-threatened Alaves in La Liga on Friday.

The home side seemed destined for a first win in six games and a debut three points for coach Quique Sanchez Flores, who was taking charge at home for the first time since replacing Eduardo Coudet nine days ago.

Alaves had gone ahead in the 40th minute courtesy of an own goal from center back Rafa Marin.

Toni Martínez’s clever backheel from the byline smacked off Marin’s head just four meters from goal and flew past his own goalkeeper.

However, a late equalizer was always a worry for a side that has conceded as many league goals in the last quarter of an hour as they have in the first half of their matches this season.

Sure enough, Nicolas Pépé did the damage with almost the last kick of the game in the seventh minute of added time when he finished off a counterattack by bending a fine shot into the far corner.

Villarreal moved above Atletico Madrid into third place in the table, a point ahead of the capital club.

Alaves remained in 16th place in the 20-team table, three points above the relegation zone.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer