Where Is Deportivo's Second Route to Goal?

The error is obvious; the pattern is not

Dani Requena's 82nd-minute shot should not have passed beneath Leo Román. The Deportivo goalkeeper had played well before that moment, then turned a manageable attempt into Levante's equalizer. Pretending otherwise would be a very elaborate way to avoid watching the ball.

But the 1-1 draw was Deportivo's fifth consecutive league match without a win. One error can explain two lost points in this match. It cannot explain the whole wait. A serious response has to separate the visible mistake from the pattern that keeps leaving Deportivo with no margin for one.

Deportivo's larger problem is attacking dependence. Yeremay drove inside, beat defenders and had his shot blocked for Bil Nsongo to finish in the 60th minute. The brightest player supplied the destabilizing action again. When the first route begins and ends with him, every quiet stretch asks too much of one set of feet.

Román had already denied Levante before the equalizer took over the replay. He has to own the save. His teammates have to reject the comforting idea that the diagnosis belongs to him alone.

The equalizer was collective before it became individual. Petar Ratkov received a longer ball, set it back into Requena's path and gave Levante a runner arriving toward goal. Deportivo had to defend the connection before the shot reached Román. The goalkeeper failed the last action; the team allowed the sequence to reach him. That division of responsibility is less satisfying than one villain, but it is more useful: protect the arrival before asking Román to erase it.

The other chances keep the objection alive

Deportivo did have opportunities beyond the goal. Adama Traoré forced Mathew Ryan into a save shortly after entering. At the end, Diego Villares stole the ball from Requena and passed across an open goal, where Asp-Jensen struck the bar. Either finish could have won the match.

Those moments strengthen the counterargument: create that much, finish one more chance, and the goalkeeper's error probably does not own the discussion. Penalty-area execution matters. Deportivo cannot be sentimental about missed openings.

Still, two of Deportivo's clearest chances came after an opponent surrendered the ball. Levante's best first-half opening also began with a Deportivo buildup error. The match became a trade in unforced invitations. That is different from repeatedly moving an organized defence until a planned advantage appears. Deportivo need both forms of threat.

Yeremay created the disorder

The goal captured what makes Yeremay essential. He did not wait for a perfect passing lane. He carried the ball through contact, changed direction twice and forced Levante's defence to collapse. Nsongo read the blocked shot and completed the move. The scorer and creator shared the action, but the disorder came from Yeremay.

That is a strength worth protecting, not a habit to condemn. The mistake would be asking him to repeat the same rescue until opponents simply build their defensive plan around it. Deportivo need a second player moving while Yeremay attracts the first and second defender, plus a midfielder arriving where the blocked ball is likely to fall.

Riazor can appreciate improvisation without accepting isolation as a tactical identity. Yeremay's invention should be multiplied by coordinated movement, not admired from a safe distance.

Atlético will remove the home comfort

Deportivo sit eighth with 11 points from nine matches, a position that resists panic even after five games without a win. The next league trip is to Atlético Madrid on October 24. Because of stadium works and reciprocal ticket restrictions, Deportivo supporters will not have an away allocation at the Metropolitano.

That absence makes the footballing test sharper. Without Riazor's noise and without a traveling section, Deportivo cannot rely on emotional momentum to turn one dribble into a wave. They need a second runner visible early, a midfield arrival behind Nsongo, and more than one player prepared to receive after Yeremay draws pressure.

Román owes his team a cleaner next save. The team owes him an attack that can survive one mistake. Against Atlético, count the routes into the box before counting the goalkeeper's errors.