Atletico respond to dip in form with win at Villarreal
VILLARREAL: La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid secured a vital 2-0 win away to Villarreal to reaffirm their title ambitions following a difficult run of results.
Diego Simeone’s side were smarting from twin defeats to Levante and Chelsea but went ahead in the 25th minute courtesy of an Alfonso Pedraza own goal following a goalmouth scramble, the strike being flagged offside then given after a VAR review.
Atletico survived another video review just before halftime when Thomas Lemar was shown a yellow card rather than a red for elbowing an opponent before record signing Joao Felix came off the bench to double their lead in the 69th on the volley.
A first win in four games in all competitions moved Atletico on to 58 points after 24 games, five clear of second-placed Barcelona, who have played 25, and six above third-placed Real Madrid.
“This win gives us a lot of confidence and puts us back on the path we were on before and now we’re really looking forward to the derby,” said Stefan Savic.
“This was a very important game in a ground that is always difficult for us, we were on a bad run but we stood tall.”
Villarreal slid down to seventh in the standings on 37 points and are without a win in their last seven league games.
“We’re annoyed, we’re finding it very difficult to score goals at the moment, behind we find it very hard to get back into a game and we need to bring an end to this run,” said striker Gerard Moreno.