Atletico move top of La Liga as Alvarez sinks Athletic Club
Source:Â http://richportaltv.com
After a thrilling match against Athletic Club, Atletico Madrid won 1-0, securing their third straight head-to-head victory and, more significantly, the top spot in La Liga for the time being.
Real Madrid’s loss to Real Betis highlighted how enticingly close the upper reaches are, even if this matchup was between the third and fourth-place teams in the division.
Both had good chances in the first ten minutes, but Jan Oblak hurried out to stop Inaki Williams, and Robin Le Normand headed over.
Determinate defending was meeting the attacking desire on display, as Andoni Gorosabel made sure Alexander Sorloth could not get a clean header off and Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta had two shots blocked.
As the half-hour mark drew near, Giuliano Simeone and the game were both fading away. However, the wideman stopped a lunging move by Unai Simon, and Yeray Alvarez cut out his low cross to Antoine Griezmann.
Then, after a careless ball from Rodrigo De Paul, Williams struck the sidenetting at the opposite end, while Dani Vivian stopped Samuel Lino’s attempt and Sorloth headed over.
Alex Berenguer was denied following a ferocious break from Athletic, just seconds after Vivian blocked another Sorloth header on the line.
Although there were not as many opportunities—Lino’s saved header was the last attempt of the half until Diego Simeone’s triple change in the 59th minute—the second half began where the first had ended, with the intensity still high.
Then, after a careless ball from Rodrigo De Paul, Williams struck the sidenetting at the opposite end, while Dani Vivian stopped Samuel Lino’s attempt and Sorloth headed over.
Moments later, Mikel Jauregizar missed a shot after Berenguer fired directly at Oblak, but Julian Alvarez made no mistake at the other end.
The Argentine grabbed a perfectly weighted pass from Marcos Llorente and finished coolly seven minutes after entering the game.
Both Benat Prados and Williams struck the woodwork, leaving Athletic stunned, and the former came very close again soon after.
Athletic then took all three points in their tenth straight unbeaten game in all competitions, ahead of Barcelona’s encounter against Real Sociedad, after Nahhuel Molina diverted another Williams shot onto the crossbar.
Athletic’s six-game winning streak in all competitions was also broken, and they now trail the top three by six points.