Last-gasp Yannick Carrasco penalty earns Atletico Madrid vital La Liga win over Espanyol

Boost for Simeone's side after midweek Champions League exit to Manchester City

Atletico Madrid's Yannick Carrasco celebrates after scoring the late winner against Espanyol at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday, April 17, 2022. EPA

Atletico Madrid needed a penalty deep into injury time from Yannick Carrasco to beat Espanyol 2-1 in La Liga on Sunday.

Atletico looked set to drop another two points at the Wanda Metropolitano when Geoffrey Kondogbia was sent off in the second half and then three minutes later Raul de Tomas cancelled out Carrasco's opener.

But De Tomas handled the ball in the box nearly five minutes into added time and the referee awarded the spot-kick after a long consultation with VAR. Carrasco then held his nerve to earn his team a vital three points in the battle for a top-four spot.

Atletico had been knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals earlier in the week after a bad-tempered defeat against Manchester City.

"With the sending-off comes fatigue, the goal, one less player, 20 minutes to go and the team kept looking, taking risks, with great effort from everyone," manager Diego Simeone said.

"You come from the hit four days ago [being eliminated by City] after playing a good game, it's not easy and these guys played with personality, pride and hard work.

"We then benefited from that penalty and Carrasco showed his courage to finish it."

The victory means Atletico stay three points clear of Real Betis in fifth and level on points with third-placed Sevilla, who are at home to Real Madrid later on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid's Yannick Carrasco celebrates with coach Diego Simeone after scoring the winner. AP

After losing away at Mallorca last weekend and then losing to City, Simeone's side could ill-afford another dent to their morale.

The significance of the win was demonstrated by the Argentinian celebrating Carrasco's winning penalty by sprinting down the touchline, before joining his relieved players in the corner.

Atletico cut Espanyol open in the 52nd minute as Matheus Cunha, on at half-time, slipped in Carrasco, who turned inside and drove through Diego Lopez at the near post.

But the game turned in Espanyol's favour in the 71st minute when Kondogbia was shown a second yellow card for blocking Sergi Darder's shot with his hand and then from the resulting free-kick, De Tomas equalised.

The usually reliable Jan Oblak was at fault as the goalkeeper fumbled a simple save, the ball hitting the post and dribbling in.

With a man extra, Espanyol wanted a winner but Atletico found a way back.

In the 95th minute, De Tomas went to clear Antoine Griezmann's flicked header but got his angles wrong and instead the ball caught his elbow. In the 100th minute, Carrasco made no mistake from the spot.

"It was an important game for us and when you score with the last kick of the game it feels even more important to achieve our goal this season," Carrasco said.