Deportivo La Coruña 0 - Alavés 1

Deportivo: Molina; Héctor (Víctor 46'), Donato, César, Romero; Mauro Silva, Sergio (Pandiani 78'); Makaay, Djalminha, Amavisca; Diego Tristán (Valerón 57'). 4-2-3-1.
Alavés: Kike; Geli, Coloccini, Téllez, Llorens; Turiel, Pablo; Astudillo, Jordi Cruyff, Ibon Begoña; Rubén Navarro (Magno 75'). 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Deportivo: César, Djalminha, Diego Tristán for Djorovic, Víctor, Valerón / Alavés: Pablo, Ibon Begoña for Witschge, Magno.

Goals:
0-1. 42. Astudillo. Following up after Molina blocked Rubén Navarro shot.

Deportivo La Coruña's run of seven home wins in a row came to an end when they were defeated 0-1 by the league's other Deportivo, Alavés. The two teams started the day only a point apart, with Deportivo having a chance to catch leaders Real Madrid who were playing the next day. However in the end they fell to only their second home defeat of the season, ending the weekend out of the Champions League spots down in fifth place. Irureta put out an attacking side, with Makaay, Tristán and Djalminha all in the starting line up, but they looked out of sorts after the harder than expected cup semi-final against Figueres, and hardly made any impression on the visitors' defence. Alavés were looking to end their run of two defeats in a row, and after dominating play for much of the half, they took the lead three minutes before half time when Astudillo followed up after Molina could only block Rubén Navarro's shot.

Jordi Cruyff almost got another before the teams changed ends, and Molina did well to save from Rubén Navarro immediately after the restart. Depor brought on Víctor at half time, changing to an untried 3-2-3-2 formation, and when this didn't work he took off an unhappy Diego Tristán to bring on yet another midfielder Valerón. Mané's men sat back to weather the tide though, a game they knew how to play and have been doing so to perfection for a couple of years now. Depor had not failed to score in the Riazor stadium for over two years now, but with Makaay seemingly also affected by the malaise which had struck down most of his colleagues, they found no way through against a back four that have only let in nineteen all season. Alavés recorded their first ever victory in the first division at the Riazor stadium, and they rise above their rivals to fourth, only a point behind the leaders. Deportivo's fans showed their disapproval at the end, and the Gallicians now have to produce a good result in their local derby at Celta on Tuesday night. Given their current away form that is not going to be easy.