Two goals from Frenchman Antoine Griezmann in the second half of the match played at the Benito Villamarín stadium against Betis gave Atlético de Madrid a weighty victory, achieve it against an opponent who was matched in the standingsbut the three points added by the colchoneros they now rise to third place.
Atlético, after a very balanced first half, was right in the second to make it 0-2, with Griezmann’s first Olympic goal, although he had to suffer at the end with the 1-2 achieved by the Frenchman Nabil Fekir and even with a shot to the crossbar that Alex Moreno crashed in the extension.
With this result, The Betis lose their first points of the season in LaLiga at home and also follows the curse of the Chilean coach Manuel Pallegrini, who has never won a match directed by the Argentine Diego Simeone.
Real Sociedad had lost on Saturday in Valladolid (1-0) and that meant that a victory in Seville of ceither of the two would lift him to third position in the standings at the conclusion of this eleventh day when they reached it with twenty points, two less than the Gipuzkoan formation, so a tie was not worth it to achieve that purpose.
The Verdiblanco team, with Sergio Canales sanctioned and Fekir on the reserved bench after recovering from a recent injury, did not wrinkle at the start against a rival in which the Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak returned after a concussion suffered last week against Athletic Club and in which the Argentine Ángel Correa was also a starter to the detriment of his compatriot Rodrigo de Paul.
But At eighteen minutes another adverse circumstance appeared for the locals, the injury of the Italian-Brazilian Luiz Felipewho complained about his right thigh, so one of the pillars of the Betis defense had to leave the field and give his place to Víctor Ruiz.
Despite this, the game was balanced, with a strong pulse in the center of the field and sporadic appearances in both areas, although without great danger to change the tie to zero, despite the fact that it was the local formation that tried the most in the final stretch of the first period.
A big scare came for the visitors as soon as the second half began when Monzambican Reinildo Mandava lost the ball in the center of the field and this led to Borja Iglesias’s counterattack and the definition in goal of the player who accompanied him, the Brazilian Luiz Henrique, although the goal did not go up to the scoreboard, after consultation with the VARdue to a prior offside game by the Galician striker.
What could have been 1-0 became very shortly after, at 54 minutes, in 0-1, the work of Frenchman Antoine Griezmann with a direct shot from a corner kick, the so-called ‘Olympic goal’ that surprised the Betis defense.
Pellegrini then brought in Joaquín Sánchez and the Hispanic-Argentine Juan Cruz in search of giving the Seville attack more energy, but It was Griezmann again (m.70), after a great triangulation play by his team, who finished the 0-2 by putting the ball under the feet of Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Silva.
Already with Fekir on the field to play the last quarter of the hour, Betis wanted to turn to Atlético’s area to recover some of the lost ground and it was precisely the French international in which shortened the deficit in the 84th minute with a precise shot from a direct free kick.
From then until the end, Betic harassment in search of a draw, which was very close to 2-2 already in the extension, when Alex Moreno crashed a header on the crossbar.
1 – Betis: Rui Silva; Sabaly (Aitor Ruibal, m.75), Pezzella, Luiz Felipe (Victor Ruiz, m.20), Alex Moreno; Guido Rodriguez, Guard (Fekir, m.75); Louis Henry (Joaquin, m.65), William Carvalho, Rodri (John Cruz, m.65); and Borja Churches.
2 – Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Molina, Savic, Gimenez, Reinildo; Correa (Carrasco, 76), Witsel, Kondogbia, Saul (De Paul, 86), Griezmann (Joao Felix, 76) and Morata (Cunha, 59).
Goals: 0-1, M.54: Griezmann. 0-2, M.70: Griezmann. 1-2, M.84: Fekir.
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Extremeño Committee). He booked the visitors Nahuel Molina (m.38), Morata (m.57) and Kondogbia (m.69), and the locals Guido Rodríguez (m.57) and Rui Silva (m.88).
Incidences: Match of the eleventh day of LaLiga Santander played at the Benito Villamarín stadium before 50,179 spectators.
