Last-gasp Yannick Carrasco penalty earns Atletico Madrid vital La Liga win over Espanyol

Atletico Madrid needed a penalty deep into injury time from Yannick Carrasco to beat Espanyol 2-1 in La Liga on Sunday.

Atletico looked set to drop another two points at the Wanda Metropolitano when Geoffrey Kondogbia was sent off in the second half and then three minutes later Raul de Tomas cancelled out Carrasco's opener.

But De Tomas handled the ball in the box nearly five minutes into added time and the referee awarded the spot-kick after a long consultation with VAR. Carrasco then held his nerve to earn his team a vital three points in the battle for a top-four spot.

Atletico had been knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals earlier in the week after a bad-tempered defeat against Manchester City.

"With the sending-off comes fatigue, the goal, one less player, 20 minutes to go and the team kept looking, taking risks, with great effort from everyone," manager Diego Simeone said.

"You come from the hit four days ago [being eliminated by City] after playing a good game, it's not easy and these guys played with personality, pride and hard work.

"We then benefited from that penalty and Carrasco showed his courage to finish it."

The victory means Atletico stay three points clear of Real Betis in fifth and level on points with third-placed Sevilla, who are at home to Real Madrid later on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid's Yannick Carrasco celebrates with coach Diego Simeone after scoring the winner. AP

After losing away at Mallorca last weekend and then losing to City, Simeone's side could ill-afford another dent to their morale.

The significance of the win was demonstrated by the Argentinian celebrating Carrasco's winning penalty by sprinting down the touchline, before joining his relieved players in the corner.

Atletico