Deportivo fight back to beat Alaves

Deportivo Coruna kept their faint Spanish title hopes alive on Friday as they recovered from a goal down and the early sending-off of Noureddine Naybet to beat UEFA Cup finalists Alaves 2-1 in a game of three penalties.

Alaves, who face Liverpool in their first European final on Wednesday, were gifted the lead on 15 minutes as Moroccan defender Naybet was sent off for what appeared to be an arm to the face of Javi Moreno, who scored from the resulting spot-kick.

Deportivo came back to take the points, though, as Diego Tristan stroked in two penalties either side of halftime following two Cosmin Contra fouls on Victor.

The result strengthened Deportivo's hold on second place in the table and took them to within five points of leaders Real Madrid.

Real have 69 points from 33 matches, with Depor on 64 having played a game more.

Vicente del Bosque's Real side can regain an eight-point lead with four games left to play with victory at home to Espanyol on Sunday.

Deportivo started the game in vibrant form and Fran came close to opening the scoring inside the first minute as he headed wide from close range.

The game turned with the first of several controversial decisions from referee Rafael Ramirez.

Naybet received his marching orders on 14 minutes as Moreno went down clutching his face as the two jostled for the ball in the area.

The referee also awarded a penalty in what looked a harsh decision and Moreno stepped up to score his 21st goal of the season.

Alaves had asked for the match to be brought forward a day to allow more time to prepare for Wednesday's UEFA Cup final against England's Liverpool in Dortmund and the Basque side certainly looked distracted for the remainder of the game.

Apart from a couple of chances on the break missed by Moreno, Deportivo enjoyed almost all the possession and might even have won by a wider margin.

Tristan showed superb skill to bring the ball down in the area on 37 minutes, only to shoot straight at the keeper.

Deportivo pulled level as the referee awarded them a penalty a few seconds before halftime as Victor went down under pressure from Cosmin Contra.

Tristan scored from the spot and a similar action brought Deportivo the winner nine minutes after the break, Tristan again notching the penalty after Contra had brought down Victor.