Griezmann strikes again to give Atletico narrow win over Levante
Griezmann has now scored all of Atletico’s last six goals
MADRID: Antoine Griezmann came to the rescue again as Atletico Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga yesterday by edging past Levante.
Griezmann has now scored all of Atletico’s last six goals and this latest one, from the penalty spot, proved the difference in a cagey contest at the Wanda Metropolitano.
A 1-0 victory for Diego Simeone’s side cuts the gap from five points to two behind Barca, who will restore their advantage with a win over Eibar later.
Levante, who have not won in the league since December 3, stay 11th.
Atletico had 19 shots and, unusually for them, dominated possession but they continue to rely on Griezmann’s excellent scoring run for points.
“We all pull the cart in difficult moments,” Griezmann said. “I cannot do anything without my team-mates.”
But, in their last five games, it is the Frenchman’s goals that have earned wins over Levante, Real Valladolid and Espanyol, while sparing them defeats away to Sevilla and Girona.
Griezmann was persistent in expressing his desire to win the Ballon d’Or in December but since the prize BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s World Cup winning captain Diego Maradona was recovering in hospital on Saturday after successfully undergoing a routine operation for stomach bleeding, his lawyer said. The 58year old former Boca Juniors and Napoli player discovered the problem in early January during a check up at a hospital in Olivos, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
Saturday’s operation, to stem bleeding caused by a hernia, was not complicated but aimed to resolve what one source told Reuters were “inconveniences” caused by the issue. “Diego Maradona’s surgical procedure is over,” his lawyer Matias Morla said on Twitter. “Thank God everything went perfectly.”
Maradona has suffered frequent periods in hospital went to Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, he has hit seven goals in seven games. Perhaps a sharpening of focus has done him good too.
He could have scored early but feathered Angel Correa’s cross wide while Koke thought he had, tucking Vitolo’s pass neatly into the corner, only for VAR to find a foul in the build-up.
In between, Stefan Savic sustained a thigh injury and was replaced by Jose Gimenez, who has himself only recently returned from a calf problem, with this his first league appearance since December 8.
After a nervy start, Levante began to frustrate their opponents, whose poor decision-making in the final third had Simeone flailing on the touchline.
It seemed likely the pressure would pay, however, and 12 minutes into the second half so it proved, as Thomas Partey’s cutback struck the hand of Nikola Vukcevic, who had slid to block but left his arm outstretched behind his back. Griezmann banged the penalty into the roof of the net.
Atletico could have made it more comfortable late on but Vitolo’s shot whistled past the post, Partey powered over and Thomas Lemar found the angle too tight. One was just enough. — AFP
Maradona recovering in hospital after surgery
over the years, often due to the extravagant lifestyle that helped make him one of the most admired players of the 20th century. He last fell ill at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he was fainted in an executive box at the Argentina-Nigeria game.
Maradona was taken into hospital in 2004 with severe heart and respiratory problems linked to cocaine use. He later underwent drug rehabilitation in Cuba and Argentina before a stomach-stapling operation in 2005 helped him lose weight.
In 2007 he checked himself into a clinic in Buenos Aires to help him overcome alcohol abuse problems. In recent months he has walked with the aid of crutches due to problems with his knees. Doctors discovered the bleeding shortly before Maradona was due to fly to Mexico, where he is coach of second division side Dorados de Sinaloa. Morla said he would return to lead the club for a second season as soon as his recuperation was complete. “Now we wait for the recovery so Diego can return to work as soon as possible,” Morla said. —Reuters