La Liga: Levante eke out late draw with Sevilla

A late own goal by defender Diego Carlos cancelled out Luuk de Jong's opener to give Levante a scarcely-deserved 1-1 draw at home to Sevilla in La Liga on Monday.

After dominating during a goalless first half, Dutch forward De Jong struck in the first minute of the second period, slamming home Munir's perfect pass to finish a lightning counterattack and give his side the lead.

De Jong's goal settled the nerves of the visitors and Carlos thought he had netted a second for Sevilla with a powerful header nine minutes later, only for the goal to be chalked off for a push on a defender.

Sevilla controlled the game throughout but Levante managed a late surge and almost equalised through substitute Hernani, but his shot was cleared off the line by centre back Jules Kounde.

Moments later Sevilla goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik and Carlos got their wires crossed as the latter turned Jorge Miramon's cross into his own net in the 87th minute, and having previously looked well beaten, Levante somehow escaped with a point.

Unbeaten in six games, the draw leaves third-placed Sevilla on 51 points, four ahead of Real Sociedad and five ahead of both Getafe and Atletico Madrid, while Levante are 12th on 35 points.

Granada earn late 2-2 draw at Betis in thriller

A flurry of late goals saw Real Betis held to a 2-2 home draw by Granada in La Liga after the visitors took a 29th-minute lead through Carlos Fernandez and were then rescued by a stoppage time strike from Roberto Soldado on Monday.

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Soldado volleyed home a corner which landed kindly for him at the far post after an 85th-minute penalty from Sergio Canales and an 88th-minute effort by Cristian Tello had turned the match on its head.

Fernandez fired Granada ahead when he swept the ball home from eight metres to round off a superb fast break, with Ramon Azeez releasing Antonio Puertas who squared the ball to the striker from the left flank.

Betis dominated possession in the opening half and visiting keeper Rui Silva pulled off two good saves to keep out a close-range header by Edgar Gonzales and a Nabil Fekir piledriver from the edge of the penalty area.

With the match seemingly heading for a dull climax, Canales converted the spot kick after Antonio Barragan bundled Puertas over before Tello curled the ball into the far corner with a speculative shot from 25 metres.

The home side’s joy was short-lived however, as 35-year old Soldado drove the ball past home keeper Joel Robles from eight metres after an outswinging corner evaded a forest of bodies in the penalty area.

The result left Granada eighth on 42 points from 29 games while Betis stayed 13th on 34 points, nine clear of the relegation zone.