Deportivo La Coruña 1-1 Levante: late Requena goal earns La Liga point
Bil Nsongo put Deportivo ahead at Riazor on 63 minutes, but substitute Petar Ratkov set up Daniel Requena for an 82nd-minute equaliser as Levante drew 1-1 in La Liga matchday 9.
Deportivo La Coruña and Levante shared the points in a 1-1 draw at the Estadio de Riazor on Friday night, 16 October 2026, in La Liga matchday 9. After a goalless first half, forward Bil Nsongo broke the deadlock for the hosts in the 63rd minute, but Levante substitute Petar Ratkov set up Daniel Requena for an 82nd-minute equaliser that sent the visitors back to Valencia with a hard-earned point. This match report breaks down the key moments, the numbers and what the result means for both newly reunited top-flight rivals.
Deportivo La Coruña vs Levante match report: a cagey first half at Riazor
Antonio Hidalgo set Deportivo up in a 4-4-2, with Leo Román in goal behind a back four of Ximo Navarro, Giménez, Bright Ede and Giacomo Quagliata. Luismi Cruz, Mario Soriano, Diego Villares and Riki Rodríguez formed the midfield line, while Yeremay Hernández, listed as Peke, partnered Nsongo up front. Luís Castro answered with a 4-3-3 for Levante: Ryan in goal, Nacho Pérez, Dela, Ifeanyi Ndukwe and Manu Sánchez across the defence, Enzo Bardeli, Oriol Rey and Reque (Daniel Requena) in midfield, and a front three of Brugui, Iván Romero and Thiago Fernández.
The opening 45 minutes were tight and scrappy rather than spectacular. Levante, more comfortable on the ball, edged possession, but neither side found a clear route through. The first booking of the evening went to Levante striker Iván Romero for a handball on 33 minutes, and Luismi Cruz was cautioned for a foul three minutes before the interval, a sign of the growing friction in midfield. Referee Manuel Jesús Orellana Cid took the teams in at 0-0.
Key moments: goals, cards and substitutions timeline
The game came alive after the hour, with both coaches turning to their benches and the decisive moments arriving in a frantic final half hour.
- 33' – Yellow card: Iván Romero (Levante), handball.
- 42' – Yellow card: Luismi Cruz (Deportivo), foul.
- 62' – Deportivo double change: Adrià Altimira replaces Ximo Navarro, Adama Traoré replaces Luismi Cruz.
- 63' – GOAL, Deportivo 1-0: Bil Nsongo scores a minute after the changes.
- 69' – Levante respond: Petar Ratkov on for Oriol Rey, Jon Ander Olasagasti on for Enzo Bardeli.
- 76' – Jeremy Toljan replaces Nacho Pérez for Levante.
- 80' – Deportivo bring on Jonathan Asp Jensen and Angeliño for Yeremay Hernández and Riki Rodríguez.
- 82' – GOAL, 1-1: Daniel Requena equalises, assisted by substitute Petar Ratkov.
- 85' – Miguel Loureiro replaces Bright Ede for Deportivo.
- 89' – Yellow card: Adrián de la Fuente (Levante), time wasting.
- 90+3' – Víctor García replaces Thiago Fernández for Levante.
- 90+6' – Yellow card: Adrià Altimira (Deportivo), foul.
The timing of Nsongo's goal will please Hidalgo: his double substitution had barely settled when Nsongo struck to lift the Riazor crowd. Yet the momentum swung again once Castro introduced Ratkov and Olasagasti. Within 13 minutes of coming on, Ratkov had provided the pass for Requena, a midfielder who had started the match, to restore parity and reward Levante's persistence.
Match statistics: Deportivo shoot more, Levante keep the ball
The numbers reflect a finely balanced contest. Deportivo had more shots and a marginally higher expected goals figure, while Levante had more of the ball and completed more passes.
| Statistic | Deportivo | Levante |
|---|---|---|
| Expected goals (xG) | 1.01 | 0.82 |
| Possession | 46% | 54% |
| Total shots | 13 | 11 |
| Shots on target | 5 | 4 |
| Shots inside the box | 9 | 6 |
| Blocked shots | 4 | 1 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 3 | 4 |
| Total passes (accurate) | 374 (304) | 422 (343) |
| Corners | 3 | 5 |
| Fouls | 17 | 12 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 2 |
| Offsides | 1 | 0 |
With 1.01 xG against 0.82, a draw is a fair reflection of the chances created. Nine of Deportivo's 13 efforts came from inside the penalty area, which points to a team that managed to reach dangerous zones, but Ryan's four saves kept Levante in the contest. At the other end Román was called upon three times. Deportivo's 17 fouls, compared with Levante's 12, hint at how often the hosts had to break up the visitors' passing rhythm.
Tactical analysis: 4-4-2 against 4-3-3
Hidalgo's flat 4-4-2 was designed to keep Deportivo compact and to give Yeremay and Nsongo a platform to press Levante's centre-backs. Levante's three-man midfield naturally gave them a numerical edge in the middle, which explains the 54% possession and the 343 accurate passes. Castro's side, however, struggled to turn that control into high-quality chances: five of their 11 shots came from outside the box.
The second-half substitutions changed the shape of the game. Altimira's arrival at right-back and Adama Traoré's pace on the flank gave Deportivo fresh energy just before the opener. Castro's response was bolder: removing the holding midfielder Oriol Rey for the striker Ratkov tilted Levante further forward, and the move paid off directly through the equaliser. Hidalgo's late introduction of Angeliño and Asp Jensen, followed by Loureiro for Ede, could not restore the lead, and Levante's late time-wasting booking showed how much they valued the point.
La Liga table: what the draw means for both clubs
Going into the round, Deportivo sat eighth in the La Liga standings with 10 points from eight matches (two wins, four draws, two defeats, goals 12-11). The draw takes Deportivo La Coruña to 11 points from nine games and extends a respectable start to their return to the top flight, even if it is a fifth draw of the campaign for a side that has found it hard to close games out.
Levante arrived 17th with six points from seven matches and a goal difference of minus four. This point lifts them to seven from eight, still in the lower part of the table, but avoiding defeat away from home is valuable for a side with only one win from its first seven league games. Other results over the weekend will decide the exact positions.
Head-to-head: a balanced rivalry
The historical record between these clubs is remarkably even. Across the last ten meetings in the data, Deportivo have won three, Levante three and four have been drawn, with Deportivo scoring 15 goals to Levante's 12. Levante had won both meetings in the 2024-25 Segunda División, 2-1 in Valencia in October 2024 and 2-1 at Riazor in January 2025, so this result ends a two-match losing run for Deportivo in the fixture. The draw also echoes the clubs' last two La Liga meetings in the 2017-18 season, both of which finished 2-2.
What's next for Deportivo and Levante
Both sides now turn their attention to matchday 10. Hidalgo will want his team to turn promising positions into a second goal, while Castro can take encouragement from the impact of his bench as Levante try to climb away from the bottom places. Follow every upcoming La Liga fixture on our matches page, and track scores as they happen in the live scores centre.