Rayo Vallecano 1 - Deportivo 1

Rayo: Keller; Alcázar, De Quintana, Ballesteros, Mingo; Mauro, Helder, Quevedo, Iván Iglesias; Luis Cembranos; Bolo (Bolic 81'). 4-4-1-1. Deportivo: Molina; Manuel Pablo, César, Helder, Romero; Emerson (Pandiani 60'), Mauro Silva; Víctor (Scaloni 70'), Valerón, Fran; Makaay (Diego Tristán 88'). 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Rayo: Mingo, Quevedo for Patxi Ferreira, Setvalls / Depor: César, Helder, Emerson, for Naybet, Donato, Djalminha.

Goals:
1-0. 56. Bolo. First time volley past Molina after long ball from own half.
1-1. 69. Valerón. Lifted ball over Keller after Makaay played in Romero's pass.

Deportivo La Coruña missed out on a good opportunity to close the gap on leaders Real Madrid after they were held to a draw by Rayo Vallecano. With time running out, Real's defeat the night before gave Depor what could be their last chance to reduce the nine point difference and make a challenge for the title. However their away form let them down once again, and they have now not won outside of the Riazor stadium since they beat Barcelona in mid-February. Their opponents Rayo were also on a bad run at home, their last victory at Vallecas also dating back to February, and with nothing more to play for, they were looking for a few more points to ensure first division football next season. Both sides came into this game missing several players, with suspensions for Poschner and Setvalls for the home side and Donato for the visitors, and a whole bunch of injuries which included Depor's Djalminha, reported to have damaged himself trying out one of his tricks, a 'rabona', in training. With Songo'o and Naybet away on international duty, Kouba was called up and César and Helder made up the central defence for the visitors, and Rayo had to include two youngsters, Hontecillas and Dupi in their squad.

The game swung from end to end, with Molina tipping a Cembranos free kick over the bar early on and Keller doing enough to put off Fran in front of goal a few minutes later. Both sides could also have had a penalty with Emerson bringing down Ballesteros at one end and a defender hacking at Víctor after Keller blocked his shot at the other. As time wore on Rayo started to get on top with Bolo hitting the bar just before half time, and the ex Bilbao striker opened the scoring soon after the restart, connecting with Alcázar's long pass before it hit the ground to lift it past Molina. Irureta brought on an extra attacker, and they levelled the scores with a well worked move, Makaay flicking on Romero's pass to leave Valerón free to shoot past Keller. With ten minutes to go the US international keeper made the save of the match from Pandiani, and Makaay wasted another chance in the closing minutes. As the game came to an end Irureta finally brought on Diego Tristán who had been warming up all the second half, his manager presumably wanting to teach him a lesson after some outspoken remarks during the week. It was a disappointing finish for everyone, and both teams saw their final objectives drifting away, Depor for a second league title and Rayo for a place in Europe. The end of the season is just around the corner.