A late rally from Real Betis wasn’t enough to prevent Levante of the three points on Tuesday evening at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, with the hosts running out 4-3 winners.
Levante took an early lead before being pegged back by Betis, then tearing into a 4-1 advantage by the hour mark. A red card and a fateful substitution inspired a late rally, however, with the visiting Andalusians running their opponents close at the death.
Oscar Duarte opened the scoring for Levante before Aissa Mandi got Betis level. Jose Luis Morales then scored a brace in the space of 20 minutes to open up the lead, with Roger adding a third five minutes shy of the hour mark.
Rober was then sent off, however, and Sergio Canales, just back from injury, entered the fray for Los Verdiblancos. The Cantabrian scored a penalty in the 78th minute before grabbing his second in the 86th, inspiring a moment of brief and unfulfilled hope.
The result takes Levante away from the relegation zone and toward the safety of mid table, just two places and a point behind Betis, who blew their chance of putting pressure on the cabal of teams between themselves and the European places.
2 – Sergio Canales has scored three braces in #LaLiga, all of them away from home, this vs Levante has been the first one since he netted it for Racing Santander vs Sevilla at Sánchez-Pizjuán eleven years ago (January 2010). Dejavù#LevanteRealBetis #LevanteBetis pic.twitter.com/nr3Ce5EpUF
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 29, 2020
