Surez scores and Oblak saves pen
After Jan Oblak swatted the ball away with a superb penalty save in the 86th minute, Atle´tico Madrid coach Diego Simeone celebrated on the sideline as if his team had just scored a goal.
His players did, too, rushing to embrace the man who secured Atle´tico a win that could be decisive in the fight for the Spanish league title.
Luis Sua´rez had earlier scored his 500th career goal with club and country to help give Atle´tico a hardfought 1-0 home win against relegation-threatened Alave´s yesterday.
“Luckily I made the stop near the end of the match and we could add the three points,” Oblak said. “These points are crucial for us as Real Madrid and Barcelona are coming after us.”
The win, only their third in the last seven league games, left Atle´tico six points in front of Real Madrid and seven ahead of Barcelona entering the international break. The Catalan club defeated fifth-placed Real Sociedad 6-1 yesterday while Madrid won 3-1 at Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Sua´ rez, who had scored only twice in the last nine matches in all competitions, put Atle´tico ahead with a diving header in the 54th minute after a cross by Kieran Trippier.
Oblak preserved the victory by diving to his right to make a one-hand save against the late penalty taken by Joselu.
“All great teams have these players who can be decisive by scoring goals and making saves,” Simeone said.
The penalty came after defender Stefan Savic elbowed an opponent while trying to protect the ball at the edge of the area.
Simeone’s team held a comfortable league lead until recently but had been gradually losing ground as Barcelona and Madrid charged to the top.
Atle´tico were coming off elimination by Chelsea in the round of 16 of the Champions League and had been held 0-all at Getafe in their previous Spanish league match.
Ala´ves has lost five of their last six league games and sit second-to-last in the 20-team standings with 23 points, two from safety.
Atle´tico next visit fourth-place Sevilla and Barcelona hosts relegation-threatened Valladolid.
● Other results: Seventh-place Villarreal beat Ca´diz 2-1 with goals by Gerard Moreno and Carlos Bacca; Valencia beat Granada 2-1 thanks to goals from Daniel Wass and A´ lex Blancoand Getafe, winless in three league matches, were held 1-all by relegation-threatened Elche.