Kondogbia sees red as Carrasco’s brace propels Atletico Madrid past Espanyol

Central African Republic international Geoffrey Kondogbia was sent off as Atletico Madrid defeated Espanyol 2-1 in Sunday’s La Liga encounter.

Featuring in his 16th encounter of the 2021-22 campaign, the 29-year-old was given his marching orders by referee Jorge Figueroa for a second caution.

Still hurt by their Champions League exit against Manchester City, Diego Simeone’s men welcomed the Parakeets to Estadio Wanda Metropolitano - as they targeted a win to boost their top-four ambitions.

Notwithstanding, it was the visitors who had the first chance of the game, but an unmarked Leandro Cabrera was unable to head past goalkeeper Jan Oblak from a set-piece.

For the host, they were unable to muster a shot on target and to make matters worse, they lost Thomas Lemar to an injury that had the Frenchman in tears.

Knowing that nothing short of victory would be acceptable, manager Simeone made a triple substitution at the break.

The visiting team almost opened the scoring despite the Argentine's changes when Aleix Vidal teed up Sergi Darder, but his low driven effort was well stopped by Oblak.

Eight minutes before the hour mark, Atletico took the lead as Yannick Carrasco cut inside to fire a shot that powered its way past Diego Lopez. 

Despite their deficit, Vicente Moreno’s men stayed competitive as Oblak continued to be the busier of the two goalkeepers. The Slovenia international produced a great save to deny Raul de Tomas after a long ball unlocked the hosts’ defence.

The home side’s lead suffered a major threat when Kondogbia was shown the way out for a second caution for a handball offence. 

Profitting from the ensuing freekick, Raul de Tomas drilled the ball home to bring his side back on level terms. 

With the game looking to end on a no winner, no vanquished note, Tomas conceded a penalty deep into stoppage time for an unclear handball while Carrasco had the simple task of converting to send the home fans into wild jubilation. 

Atletico Madrid stay fourth on the log having accrued 60 points from 32 matches. 

Following his dismissal, Kondogbia will now miss matches against Granada and Athletico Bilbao.