Deportivo's Turkish midfielder Emre Çolak, who was a former Galatasaray player and is known as El Turco in Spain, scored his first goal for the club against Valencia.
Deportivo La Coruna and Valencia, two former champions fallen on hard times, drew 1-1 in the Spanish league on Monday. In an entertaining renewal of a rivalry that helped decide titles more than 10 years ago, Valencia rallied at Riazor Stadium to split the points. Juanfran Moreno picked out Emre Çolak's run toward the penalty spot with a cross for the midfielder to head in just before the halftime whistle. Valencia forward Rodrigo Moreno, who had missed his team's two best chances, leveled in the 56th when he tapped in Nani's short cross.
Goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton almost trapped his shot on the line, but the ball had already crossed over. Valencia, which was playing its third match under new Italian coach Cesare Prandelli, remained one point ahead of Deportivo, which is on the edge of the relegation zone. Deportivo won the league in 2000 and Valencia was champion in 2002 and 2004. It would take 10 years for Atletico Madrid to break the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid in 2014. But in recent years the objective of a diminished Deportivo has been to avoid the drop, while Valencia has been undermined by a steady exit of its best players and the inability to find a successful coach.
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