Atletico Madrid reply to dip in type with assertion victory at Villarreal
La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid secured an important 2-0 win away to Villarreal on Sunday to reaffirm their title ambitions following a troublesome run of outcomes.
Diego Simeone’s aspect had been smarting from twin defeats to Levante and Chelsea however went forward within the twenty fifth minute courtesy of an Alfonso Pedraza personal objective following a goalmouth scramble, the strike being flagged offside then given after a VAR overview.
Atletico survived one other video overview simply earlier than halftime when Thomas Lemar was proven a yellow card reasonably than a purple for elbowing an opponent earlier than document signing Joao Felix got here off the bench to double their lead within the 69th on the volley.
A primary win in 4 video games in all competitions moved Atletico on to 58 factors after 24 video games, 5 away from second-placed Barcelona, who’ve performed 25, and 6 above third-placed Real Madrid.
Real play at dwelling to Real Sociedad on Monday earlier than visiting Atletico subsequent Sunday in an important recreation within the title race.
“This win gives us a lot of confidence and puts us back on the path we were on before and now we’re really looking forward to the derby,” mentioned Stefan Savic.
“This was a very important game in a ground that is always difficult for us, we were on a bad run but we stood tall.”
5️⃣1️⃣2️⃣ games3️⃣0️⃣8️⃣ wins
Diego Simeone equals Luis Aragones for many wins as Atletico Madrid supervisor ⚪🔴 pic.twitter.com/635m2jgUPo
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 28, 2021
Villarreal slid all the way down to seventh within the standings on 37 factors and are with no win of their final seven league video games.
Unai Emery’s aspect took the sport to Atletico within the early levels however struggled to create any actual hazard and fell behind from a set piece.
Thomas Lemar whipped a nook in the direction of the far submit and Savic nodded it throughout the objective the place it was inadvertently bundled in by Pedraza.
Villarreal missed an ideal likelihood to equalise earlier than halftime when Moreno scuffed a shot which keeper Jan Oblak saved and Atletico captain Koke needed to scramble the free ball off the road.
Atletico practically doubled their lead early within the second half by means of prime scorer Luis Suarez however the Uruguayan’s shot was tipped over the bar by Sergio Asenjo.
Villarreal reasserted themselves on the sport however once more didn’t get previous Oblak and had been dealt a deadly blow by Felix, who celebrated his first objective since late January by placing his finger to his lips.
