Levante 2 - 2 Atl. Madrid: Winless Levante fightback against ten-man Atleti

In an action-packed encounter, Enis Bardhi‘s 90th-minute penalty saw Levante snatch a last-gasp draw at the Estadi Ciutat de València, which saw Diego Simeone’s men miss the chance to move into the top five, while ‘Los Granotes’ remain in the bottom three - yet to win this season.

Atleti naturally started the brighter of the two sides and superstar youngster João Félix tested Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernández with a low drive in the early stages of the game. It wasn’t long before the visitors took the lead on 12 minutes through Antoine Griezmann who headed home from Felipe’s assist.

 The home side did threaten on occasions and gradually gained a foothold in the match. Jan Oblak was on hand to save a low drive from Levante’s Óscar Duarte. They were given an opportunity to level in the first period when Atleti made a real mess of clearing a corner, Luis Suárez then tripped Rúben Vezo in the penalty area, Bardhi stepped up to equalise.

Diego Simeone’s men had scored twice on nine occasions this season but they struggled to break down the Levante side in the second half. Atleti brought on Rodrigo de Paul and Ángel Correa to bolster the attack, however nothing seemed to work for a while. With both defences cancelling each other out, a point apiece seemed a likely result. 

However, Matheus Cunha had other ideas with a sharp touch he fired home for his first goal for Atletico Madrid to grab the lead. Diego Simeone was sent off late on in the game for something he said to the fourth official. His mood would not have improved as the referee consulted VAR to give Levante a penalty from a Correa handball. Bardhi again fired home the penalty into the corner to grab a dramatic equaliser.

The La Liga champions will have to lick their wounds as they host Real Betis in a top six clash next time, while Levante are at home to relegation rivals Granada.