Barcelona vs Granada. Spanish La Liga.
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Barcelona 1-1 Granada: Ronald Araujo rescues a point for Barca
Barcelona can only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Granada; Ronald Koeman's side need a late strike from defender Ronald Araujo to earn them a point at the Nou Camp; the visitors had led through Domingos Duarte's early goal
Monday 20 September 2021 23:37, UK
Defender Ronald Araujo came to Barcelona's rescue with a last-gasp equaliser to deny lowly Granada a second successive La Liga victory at the Nou Camp.
Araujo struck in the final minute of normal time amid a concerted flurry to cancel out Domingos Duarte's early opener and spare his side's blushes as the game finished 1-1.
The home crowd had been stunned into silence within two minutes of kick-off when Duarte headed Sergio Escudero's corner past keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and into the net.
Jorge Molina went close to a second for the visitors, but Sergi Roberto was denied at the other end by the crossbar and Memphis Depay failed to round off a quick break as the Catalan giants turned the screw.
Araujo, Sergino Dest and substitute Oscar Mingueza all went close with the half-time whistle approaching, but Barca went in at the break still trailing.
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Araujo and Depay threatened again as the second half unfolded, but keeper Luis Maximiano and his defenders held firm with substitute Luuk De Jong heading just over from close range with 11 minutes remaining before Maximiano saved superbly from Araujo.
Substitute Gerard Pique was thrown into an attacking role as the home side fought desperately for a way back, and it duly arrived in the final minute of the game when Araujo headed them level in the nick of time.
Elsewhere, Victor Osimhen started the ball rolling as Napoli climbed to the top of Serie A with a resounding 4-0 victory over Udinese at the Dacia Arena.
The visitors took the lead with 24 minutes gone when Osimhen, who had scored both goals as his side fought back to secure a 2-2 Europa League draw at Leicester on Thursday evening, struck from close range after running on to Mario
Rui's through-ball.
It might have been 2-0 within seven minutes when Fabian Ruiz's long-range strike came back off the woodwork, but the reprieve proved temporary when defender Amir Rrahmani headed home Kalidou Koulibaly's 35th-minute cross.
Gerard Deulofeu passed up an opportunity to reduce the deficit eight minutes before the break and Koulibaly effectively wrapped up the points within seven minutes of the restart with Napoli's third, substitute Hirving Lozano's late strike simply cementing a comfortable win which eased them from third place to first.
