Real win Madrid derby to muscle into title race
MADRID: Real Madrid barged their way back into the Spanish La Liga title race with a resounding 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in a feisty derby at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday.
Casemiro, Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale’s strikes inflicted Atletico’s first home defeat of the season across all competitions and moved the European champions up to second, within five points of leaders Barcelona, as their revival under Santiago Solari continued.
Antoine Griezmann equalised for Atletico after Casemiro’s overhead kick sent Real ahead, but Ramos slammed home from the penalty spot before halftime to silence the home fans.
Atletico’s Alvaro Morata netted a brilliant lob against his former side but it was ruled out for offside before Bale drilled in the visitors’ third to secure the points for Real Madrid.
Thomas Partey was dismissed after getting his second yellow card at the end of a disappointing afternoon for Diego Simeone’s side, who dropped to third after losing for the second weekend in a row.“la Liga is there to fight for, there are a lot of points to win and any team can make your life hard,” Real captain Ramos said.
“Winning the league motivates us, it’s a really balanced competition and we have to keep fighting for it and making life difficult for Barcelona,” he added.
A vibrant atmosphere at the
Wanda Metropolitano also carried an undercurrent of anger as Atletico fans threw stuffed toy rats at Thibaut Courtois’s goal.
Atletico started brightly with Griezmann firing into the side netting but Real moved ahead in the 16th minute with Casemiro’s spectacular strike. From there on, they dominated the game.
VILLARREAL’S VICTORY DROUGHT CONTINUES
Madrid:villarreal remained winless in 10 consecutive Spanish league matches after a 0-0 draw at 14th-place Valladolid on Friday.
The visitors, who are used to finishing much higher in the standings, stayed second from bottom with three victories from 23 games. It was Villarreal’s second straight draw since re-hiring coach Javi Calleja in place of Luis Garcia Plaza, less than two months after he was fired.