Atletico stuns Madrid, snatching stoppage-time equalizer
MADRID — Just a minute away from beating its cross-city rival for the second time in less than a month, and taking a four-point lead at the top of the Spanish league, and Real Madrid choked.
Madrid’s improvised defense faltered at the final hurdle, and Atletico Madrid scored a stoppage-time equalizer to snatch a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Marcos Llorente scored with a header three minutes into added time, after Brahim Diaz had put the host ahead in the first half at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The late goal prevented Madrid from exploiting second-place Girona’s 0-0 draw with Real Sociedad on Saturday. Madrid leads Girona by two points ahead of next week’s topof-the-table clash between the pair.
“We played a very good match, we were in control,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We were unlucky to concede that goal in the end, but we lacked height in the defense, and we knew it.”
Ancelotti had a depleted backline due to injury, and had to improvise, using right back Dani Carvajal as a central defender alongside Nacho Fernandez.
The duo couldn’t cope with a finalminute cross into the area, as Memphis Depay headed the ball toward the goal and Llorente came in to meet it, scoring the equalizer.
“We worked hard the entire match and, in the end, we got rewarded,” Llorente said. “We gained a point and kept them from getting more points. Considering the way things were going, it’s a very valuable point for us.”
Atletico, which had won four games in a row in all competitions, stays in fourth place, 10 points off the lead. Diego Simeone’s team was two points behind Barcelona, which won 3-1 at Alaves on Saturday.
“The team could’ve given up, but it kept fighting until the end and deserved the draw,” Simeone said.
Madrid extended its unbeaten streak to 26 matches across all tournaments since falling to a 3-1 league defeat at Atletico in September.
It was the third Madrid derby in less than a month, with Madrid winning the Spanish Super Cup semifinal in Saudi Arabia, and Atletico winning in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.
Diaz, a late addition to the starting lineup after a minor injury to Vinicius Junior during the pregame warm-up, opened the scoring from close range in the 20th minute, after Atletico midfielder Koke Resurreccion failed to fully clear the ball in front of the goal.
Atletico thought it had equalized through Stefan Savic in the 48th minute, but VAR determined that Saul Niguez was offside in the buildup.
Eighth-place Real Betis couldn’t manage more than a 1-1 draw against 10th-place Getafe at home.
Both goals came from penalty kicks, with Getafe taking the lead in the eighth minute and Real Betis equalizing in the 35th.
Celta Vigo ended a three-game winless streak and moved further away from the relegation zone by beating Osasuna 3-0.
Jorgen Strand Larsen and Luca de la Torre scored goals a minute apart in the first half, and Anastasios Douvikas sealed the victory after the turnaround.
It was only the side’s second away win in the league, with the other coming at last-place Almeria in September.
The victory moves Rafa Benitez’s team up to 16th place, three points clear of the relegation zone.