Atletico Madrid followed up their nail-biting penalty shootout win over Bayer Leverkusen by comfortably beating neighbours Getafe 2-0 at the Vicente Calderon.
Fernando Torres -- who scored the final penalty against the Germans -- opened the scoring
in the third minute following a free kick and Tiago doubled the advantage just before half-time, also converting from a set-piece.
This was Atletico's first league win in four matches following three successive draws and keeps them one point behind third-placed Valencia, while Getafe slumped to a third defeat in four matches under interim coach Pablo Franco and are just four points above the relegation zone.
Diego Simeone had to make several changes to the team after the gruelling Champions League match, with Mario Mandzukic, Raul Garcia and Miguel Angel Moya all injured, giving Jan Oblak his first Primera Division start and also giving a rare starting appearance to Raul Jimenez, who partnered Torres in attack. Meanwhile defender Miranda was suspended after getting sent off in last week's 0-0 draw at Espanyol, so Jose Maria Gimenez took his place.
Atletico had only scored once in 270 minutes in the league before this game, but needed barely 120 seconds to take the lead here. Koke launched a free-kick from the final third into the area and Torres appeared about 15 yards from goal to head the ball looping into the net, scoring his first league goal for the Rojiblancos since May 2007.
Provider almost turned scorer five minutes later as Koke tried a snap shot on the edge of the area which hit the inside of the far post and then hit the outstretched leg of Vicente Guaita, bouncing across the line but just past the opposite post.
The midfielder then squandered an even better chance on 20 minutes. Gabi's back heel allowed Juanfran to cross into the box and Raul Jimenez's cushioned header put the ball on a plate for Koke inside the six yard area, but he volleyed straight at Guaita.
Although clearly second best on the day, Getafe were not entirely passive and could have equalised through Fredy Hinestroza when the Colombian dribbled across the box, but he took too long to get his shot away and Atleti's defence cleared.
On 44 minutes the league champions got the second goal they had been threatening to score. This time on the right hand side of the box, Koke swung a free-kick to the near post and Jimenez dived in to head it across to the far post, where Tiago nodded in from close range.
Tiago and Torres both could have doubled their tallies in the second half but could not find the target, although there was never any doubt that Atletico were going to take all three points.
Athletic Bilbao vs Almeria
Athletic Bilbao continued to keep the pressure on the teams above them with a deserved 2-1 victory over Almeria at San Mames.
Athletic have been the form team in La Liga over the last few weeks and Saturday's win, secured by goals from Xabier Etxeitia and Mikel Rico in the opening half-hour, was their fifth on the trot and saw them move to within five points of Malaga in seventh.
Almeria did manage to reduce the deficit when home defender Mikel Balenziaga put through his own net at the start of the second half, but they never really threatened an equaliser as their winless run stretched to six games.
It took Athletic just nine minutes to take the lead as Etxeitia climbed above a group of players to glance in Benat Etxebarria's corner.
In what was a rampant start by the home side, Ibai Gomez struck the crossbar five minutes later and Almeria survived two more scares before Athletic doubled their lead in the 26th minute.
Almeria goalkeeper Julian Cuesta's punch from a right-wing cross only went as far as Rico on the edge of the box and he chested the ball down before lofting a shot over the stranded Julian and into the net.
At that stage it was looking set to be an Athletic romp, but somehow Almeria managed to get through to half-time only 2-0 down despite Rico, Iker Muniain (twice), Guillermo and Inaki Williams all going close for the hosts.
Athletic really should have been out of sight following a dominant first-half showing, but they were not and could have paid the penalty as Almeria pulled a goal back in the 47th minute when Wellington Silva's cross deflected in off Balenziaga.
That was only the second goal Athletic have conceded in six matches since suffering a crushing 5-2 home mauling at the hands of Barcelona and gave Almeria an unexpected boost.
However, the Andalusian side could not get any closer and Athletic had the chances to finish the game off well before the end, with Guillermo and Williams unable to take two of the home side's openings.
That kept Almeria in contention right until the end but opportunities were few and far between and they ended up finishing the match with 10 men as Fran Velez picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time.
No comments:
Post a Comment