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Sport

Late goals from Suarez, Messi sink Atletico after Costa sees red

Goals
Barcelona (Spain), April 6, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) FC Barcelona closed in on the 2018/2019 La Liga title after beating visiting Atletico Madrid 2-0 in Saturday’s top-of-the-table showdown at the Nou Camp.

Late strikes by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the table, widening the gap between the two sides.

Atletico began brightly, but their gameplan went out of the window when Diego Costa was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute.

It was for a verbal tirade at referee Jesus Gil Manzano.

Atletico produced a gutsy second half display, expertly shackling Barca.

But the Catalans finally found a way past the visitors’ outstanding goalkeeper Jan Oblak with a superb curling shot from Suarez in the 85th minute.

Moments later, Messi sealed victory and quite probably the league title with an irresistibly cool finish into the net.

Barca’s fans jubilantly chanted “champions”, crowing at their surely unassailable lead at the top with seven games remaining.

Atletico realistically needed to win at the Nou Camp for the first time since 2006 to stay in the title race.

They played with ambition and intelligence in the opening stages, keeping the ball for long periods and depriving Barca of space.

But they were rocked by Costa’s moment of madness which killed their early momentum and left them with little choice but to defend for the remaining hour of the game.

Striker Costa reacted angrily to not being awarded a foul after being tackled by Jordi Alba.

He gave a long verbal response to the referee, who to his disbelief pulled out a red card.

Costa had to be shepherded off the pitch by Barca’s Gerard Pique as he struggled to control his temper.

Teammates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez earned bookings for venting their anger over the decision.

Atletico coped superbly with the setback and numerical disadvantage, controlling the space for the majority of the game.

Messi still carved his way through the middle of the pitch on two occasions, creating openings for Suarez and himself.

But both South American forwards were thwarted by the titanic presence of Oblak.

Atletico naturally had limited opportunities down the other end but were not far from finding a goal when Antoine Griezmann picked out Rodrigo from a free kick.

But the midfielder headed over the bar when Gimenez was standing behind him, in a better position.

Diego Simeone’s side could not last the distance, however, and as their legs inevitably tired, Barca’s attacking quality made the difference. (Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Real Madrid back in La Liga title fight after derby victory

Derby
Madrid, Feb. 9, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Real Madrid barged their way back into the Spanish La Liga title race with a 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in a feisty derby at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday.

Casemiro, Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale’s strikes inflicted Atletico Madrid’s first home defeat of the season across all competitions and moved the European champions up to second.

Real Madrid are now five points behind leaders FC Barcelona, as their revival under Santiago Solari continued.

Antoine Griezmann had equalised for Atletico Madrid after Casemiro’s overhead kick sent Real Madrid ahead, but Ramos slammed home from the penalty kick spot before halftime to silence the home fans.

Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata netted a brilliant lob against his former side but it was ruled out for offside.

Then, Bale drilled in the visitors’ third to secure the points for Real Madrid.

Thomas Partey was dismissed after getting his second yellow card at the end of a disappointing afternoon for Diego Simeone’s side.

Atletico Madrid have now dropped to third after losing for the second weekend in a row. (Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Atletico suffer defeat at Betis in Morata La Liga debut

Defeat

Seville (Spain), Feb. 3, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Atletico Madrid fell to their first La Liga defeat in five months as they were beaten 1-0 at Real Betis on Sunday.

The capital city side therefore missed a golden chance to close the gap with leaders Barcelona and slipping six points adrift of the Catalans.

Alvaro Morata made his debut for Atletico after completing a loan move from Chelsea, but it was another former Real Madrid player in Sergio Canales who made the difference.

He scored a penalty midway through the second half to give Betis a victory which took them up to sixth in the table.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone was without five regular starters but was still able to field what looked to be an exciting, attacking lineup.

Pacey wingers Angel Correa and Thomas Lemar partnered Morata and the talismanic Antoine Griezmann up front.

Barca’s 2-2 draw with Valencia a day earlier had given Atletico the opportunity to move within three points of their title rivals yet they struggled to get a hold on the game.

It took a spectacular save from Jan Oblak to prevent Zouhair Feddal heading Betis in front midway through the first half.

Filipe Luis gave away the penalty which decided the game, striking the ball with his left arm as he attempted to chest it down.

And although Oblak dived the right way, Canales’ spot-kick was too powerful for the Slovenian to reach.

Barca lead the standings on 50 points after 22 games, Atletico are second with 44 while third-placed Real Madrid.

Madrid, who will play at home to Alaves later on Sunday and visit Atletico next week, have 39 points.

“We cannot be happy as we failed to close the gap with Barca.

“It was a very even game, but we can’t afford to dwell any more on this, we have to think about our next game immediately,” said Atletico defender Juanfran.

“No-one here is going to give up because there’s still a long way to go in the season.”

Atletico had a penalty appeal of their own late in the game when Morata went down under a challenge from Feddal.

Griezmann also went closest to scoring for the visitors when he hit the post after the interval.

Atletico had 13 shots at Pau Lopez’s goal, but only managed to hit the target once, losing for the first time in the league since going down to a 2-0 defeat at Celta Vigo on Sept. 1.

“Both teams had few chances and we couldn’t find a solution as the minutes ticked down,” said Simeone.

“Morata had a good game considering it was his first game and we hope he will be able to contribute more to the team the longer he spends with us.

“I’m trying to be optimistic, at least we are only six points behind as Barca drew, and the distance could have been bigger.” (Reuters/NAN)

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Sport

Griezmann strikes for fifth game in a row to give Atletico narrow win over Levante

La Liga

Madrid, Jan. 13, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Antoine Griezmann proved to be Atletico Madrid’s decisive figure yet again as the Frenchman struck the only goal in a 1-0 win at home to Levante on Sunday.

The victory kept Diego Simeone’s side in touch with La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Griezmann smashed home from the penalty spot in the 57th minute to score for the fifth consecutive game in all competitions after Levante midfielder Nikola Vukcevic was penalised for handball in the area.

Levante, who were perhaps feeling the effects of beating Barcelona 2-1 on Thursday the Copa del Rey, produced a scrappy display.

But they had one chance to level when Jose Luis Morales was played in. However, the forward’s shot bounced off the chest of Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Atletico dominated the first half without creating too many chances and thought they had taken the lead when Koke netted in the 10th minute.

However, the goal was disallowed for a foul by midfielder Rodri after a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

Simeone was forced to field usual right back Juanfran on the left of defence due to personnel shortages.

Unfortunately, the Argentine coach suffered yet another injury setback in defence when centre back Stefan Savic had to be substituted early in the game.

The win took second-placed Atletico on to 38 points after 19 games, two points behind pace setters Barcelona who host Eibar later on Sunday.

Despite the narrow scoreline, Simeone said he thought his side had played well and explained why he rushed on to the pitch to embrace his players when the fulltime whistle came.

“It was one of our best displays this season, along with (the 2-0 win over) Borussia Dortmund. We always were looking to take the game to our opponents and kept pressing high.

“We had to overcome the ruled out goal and Savic’s injury and we reset ourselves, against a very good team,” Simeone said.

“When players give their lives on the pitch like they did today it makes me emotional.

“Today was a day to give everyone a hug because they all made a huge effort.” (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Felix Ajide

Sport

La Liga: Griezmann special earns Atletico 1-1 draw at Sevilla

Draw

Seville (Spain), Jan. 6, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) A stunning free kick goal from Antoine Griezmann earned Atletico Madrid a 1-1 draw against Sevilla in an entertaining game between La Liga’s second and third-placed sides on Sunday.

The result weakened both sides’ pursuit of leaders Barcelona.

Sevilla took a deserved lead at a packed and rocking Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in the 37th minute with a close-range strike from Wissam Ben Yedder.

The goal came as a result of a clever team move, shortly after striker Andre Silva had also smacked the post for them.

Ben Yedder missed a clear chance to double Sevilla’s advantage but was thwarted by Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak, before Atletico pulled themselves level right at the end of the first half through Griezmann’s sizzling set-piece.

The draw left Atletico second in the standings on 35 points with Sevilla third on 33, while Barcelona, on 37 points and in action against Getafe later on Sunday, were handed the chance to move five points clear at the top.

In a calmer second half, Atletico, who created few chances throughout the game, managed to plug the holes that Sevilla had been exploiting.

Ben Yedder missed another chance for the home side, failing to find the target when clean through while team mate Quincy Promes saw an arrowed effort tipped away by Oblak.

Sevilla’s goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik repelled both of Atletico’s best efforts, from Griezmann and Thomas Partey. (Reuters/NAN)

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Sport

La Liga: Griezmann’s penalty kick helps Atletico Madrid win tight game

La Liga
Madrid, Dec. 22, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Atletico Madrid maintained their excellent run of home form on Saturday by beating Espanyol 1-0 for a seventh win out of nine games at their Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

The victory ensured that Atletico Madrid sustained the pressure on La Liga leaders FC Barcelona.

Antoine Griezmann struck the only goal of the game early in the second half, sending visiting goalkeeper Diego Lopez the wrong way from the penalty kick spot.

But the spot kick was after some confusion, when Angel Correa had a goal ruled out as Koke had been fouled by Espanyol’s Esteban Granero just before then.

Espanyol were the only team to win in the league at the Wanda Metropolitano last season and again proved extremely tough opponents for Diego Simeone’s side.

However, the Madrid side escaped going behind in the first half when Jan Oblak saved from Leo Baptistao and the Brazilian forward struck the post on the rebound.

Atletico Madrid’s third consecutive league win took them into second place on 34 points, level with La Liga leaders FC Barcelona.

FC Barcelona will be in action against Celta Vigo later on Saturday.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

Atletico surrender unbeaten home league record with Espanyol loss

La Liga
Madrid, May 6, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Atletico Madrid suffered a hangover from reaching the 2017/2018 UEFA Europa League final in midweek as they slumped to a surprise 0-2 defeat at home to Espanyol on Sunday.

It was the Madrid side’s first loss in La Liga at their new Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Midfielder Oscar Melendo put Espanyol ahead after 53 minutes with the help of a huge deflection off Atletico defender Stefan Savic.

Brazilian forward Leo Baptistao doubled the lead with a thumping low drive from outside the area against his old side.

Espanyol are 15th in the standings and had only won one of their previous seven games.

They were therefore unlikely candidates to become the first team to beat Atletico in the league since their 68,000-capacity stadium opened in September.

Atletico are second on 75 points, 12 behind champions FC Barcelona who have one game in hand and drew 2-2 with Real Madrid later on Sunday.

Diego Simeone’s side are three ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who have also played one game fewer than Atletico.

Simeone made five changes to the Atletico team that beat Arsenal 1-0 in Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg for a 2-1 aggregate win.

He left out influential defender Diego Godin and striking pair Diego Costa and Antoine Griezmann.

Atletico had previously lost 1-2 at home to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League in September and 1-2 to Sevilla in the King’s Cup in January.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)