Depor leave it late

King's Cup holders Deportivo Coruna needed a late goal from Sergio to claim a 1-1 draw away to third division Alicante, conquerors on champions Valencia in the previous round, in an untidy third round first leg clash on Tuesday.

Alicante, who beat reigning league champions Valencia to make it through the second round, took the lead with a Javier Morante header five minutes before halftime.

Depor's stand-in keeper Dani Mallo was at fault as he failed to claim a high cross from the left, leaving Morante a free header to open the scoring.

Alicante had several chances to give themselves a commanding lead going into the second leg in La Coruna next week but Mallo made up for his error on the goal with two good saves from close-range shots.

With 10 minutes to go the home side were left to rue those misses as Spanish international midfielder Sergio fired in a free kick that squeezed under the body of keeper Miguel Angel Espana.