BARCELONA - Thomas Lemar scored in the ninth minute of added time to give Atlético Madrid a last-gasp 2-1 victory at newly-promoted Espanyol in LaLiga on Sunday.
THOMAS LEMAR IN THE 98TH MINUTE!! pic.twitter.com/e9NG6CC0CW
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 12, 2021
Yannick Carrasco leveled for the visitors 11 minutes from full time after Raúl de Tomás had put the hosts in front in the first period with a sublime looping header. The Belgian's effort had looked to have ensured the spoils would be shared before the late drama.
Huge goal by Yannick Carrasco to tie it for Atleti! pic.twitter.com/jMJJbC22GM
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 12, 2021
Espanyol finally get past Oblak and have their first goal of the LaLiga season!
Great header pic.twitter.com/MKvuNMOSFv— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 12, 2021
The result moved Atlético to the top of the table with 10 points from four games, with a number of the other sides at the top yet to play this weekend. Espanyol have two points from their four games.
"It was a really tough game, especially in the first half," Carrasco said. "The boss made a number of changes which shows how deep our squad is and the substitutes made a difference. The added time was just, I thought. Espanyol wasted a lot of time, there were two VAR reviews and we were able to use that to our advantage and score."
Lemar, one of those who came as coach Diego Simeone made three halftime changes, thought he had leveled eight minutes after the break when he fired in Marcos Llorente's cross. However, a lengthy VAR review deemed Luis Suárez was offside in the build-up.
In the end that lengthy pause - one of a number in a feisty encounter - was key for Atléti as referee Juan Martínez Munuera added on 10 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game.
Atlético pushed on for a winner against visibly tired opponents and Lemar broke into the Espanyol box in the final minute to fire past Diego López and secure all three points for Atlético.
(Reporting by Joseph Walker; Editing by Alex Richardson and Pritha Sarkar)
