Deportivo 2 - Galatasaray 0

Deportivo: Songo'o; Manuel Pablo, Naybet, Donato, Romero; Mauro Silva, Valerón; Víctor (Scaloni 82'), Djalminha (Pandiani 74'), Fran (Makaay 61'); Diego Tristán. 4-2-3-1.

Goals:
1-0. 40. Víctor. Volley from close range after Djalminha shot bounced off defender.
2-0. 73. Djalminha (penalty). After Ahmed ruled to have handled on edge of area.

Group B league table:
Galatasaray............... 7 points
Deportivo.................... 6 points
AC Milan...................... 6 points
Paris St. Germain..... 2 points

Deportivo gave themselves a fighting chance of reaching the quarter finals with a two goal victory against a Galatasaray side who played with ten men for the last half hour of this match. Two losses in a row had left the Gallician side floundering in their first ever appearance in the Champions League, although they came in to this match with confidence after winning away at Barcelona at the weekend in the league. Irureta decided to make a couple of changes from that side leaving Emerson and Makaay on the bench and bringing in Valerón and Tristán, with Songo'o replacing the injured Molina in goal and reserve keeper Kouba being called up for the first time since getting his EU passport and rejoining the first team squad.

Being a bit late in the month, and with fans keeping back their few remaining Pesetas for Saturday's game with Real Madrid, the crowd was the lowest to date in the Champions League, some 27,000. Songo'o was called upon early on to save from Hagi, and the Camerooni keeper was in excellent form all night. Gradually though Deportivo started to dominate, with Víctor, scorer of two goals against Barça, gaining in confidence with every stride. Ten minutes before half time he fired a shot against the crossbar from wide out, and then five minutes later he was in the right place at the right time, getting on the end of a Djalminha shot which was half blocked by a defender to open the scoring. However before the first 45 minutes came to an end Songo'o kept out a Jardel header which would otherwise have cancelled out the first goal.

A quarter of an hour into the second half German referee Stampe gave Deportivo a helping hand, sending off Galatasaray's Vedat for a second bookable offence. A few minutes later he inexplicably ruled out a headed goal by Víctor, presumably for a foul, but he made up for it again awarding a penalty to the home side when the ball touched Ahmet's hand as he was running out of the area. From action replays after the game it appeared that he was standing at best on the line at the edge of the box, but Djalminha gratefully accepted the decision to send Taffarel the wrong way for Deportivo's second.

This was an important goal as it gave Coruña a one goal advantage on aggregate over their rivals, vital if they end up level on points, but Irureta decided to try for another, bringing on Makaay and Pandiani to join Diego Tristán in an unprecedented three man attack. Deportvio spent the rest of the match lining up to take pots at goal, but in the end they settled for the result as it stood. They still need to beat Paris Saint Germain at the Riazor in two weeks time, and then it depends on results as to what they need from their last game at Milan. It is not an easy task, but there could still be three Spanish teams in the last eight for the second year running. But first there is that little question of Real Madrid to tackle. A busy week this one.