Atletico beats Bilbao 2-0 to stay within 7 points of Barca

Diego Costa and Kevin Gameiro scored second-half goals to give Atletico Madrid a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday and keep it within seven points of Spanish league leader Barcelona.

Atletico will visit Barcelona on March 4 in what could be its last chance to inject some drama into the title race.

Gameiro broke the deadlock at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium eight minutes after replacing Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion in the 59th. The forward scored from a pass by Antoine Griezmann after Saul Niguez had recovered the ball in midfield to spring an attack that caught Bilbao in disarray.

Costa sealed the result with 10 minutes left when Bilbao defender Unai Nunez failed to intercept a pass by Gameiro, leaving the Spain striker all alone to fire past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Simeone’s side suffocated Bil-

Yesterday Real Sociedad-Levante .................... 3-0 Atl. Madrid-Ath Bilbao .................... 2-0 Espanyol-Villarreal .......................... 1-1 Betis-Real Madrid ............................ 3-5

Standings

P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 24 19 5 0 62 11 62 Atl. Madrid 24 16 7 1 36 9 55 Valencia 24 14 4 6 47 28 46 Real Madrid 23 13 6 4 45 26 45 Sevilla 24 12 3 9 31 35 39 Villarreal 24 11 5 8 35 29 38 Eibar 24 10 5 9 32 36 35 Girona 24 9 7 8 34 30 34 Betis 24 10 3 11 41 50 33 Celta Vigo 23 9 5 9 41 34 32 Getafe 23 7 9 7 26 21 30 Real Sociedad 24 8 5 11 46 45 29 Leganes 23 8 5 10 20 25 29 Ath Bilbao 24 6 10 8 24 27 28 Alaves 24 9 1 14 22 33 28 Espanyol 24 6 9 9 22 32 27 Levante 24 3 11 10 21 38 20 Las Palmas 24 5 3 16 18 52 18 Dep. La Coruna24 4 5 15 24 53 17 Malaga 24 3 4 17 15 38 13

bao’s attack, which never threatened goalkeeper Jan Oblak. The hosts, who have conceded a league-low nine goals, recorded their 16th clean sheet through 24 rounds.