Griezmann to Atletico rescue
barcelona — Antoine Griezmann ensured that Atletico Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona by scoring its sole goal in a 1-0 win over Levante at home on Sunday.
Second-place Atletico remained unbeaten in 16 consecutive rounds of the Spanish league and pulled to within two points of Barcelona before the leaders host Eibar later.
Griezmann scored his team-leading ninth league goal of the season when he fired a spot kick over Levante goalkeeper Oier Olazabal in the 57th minute following a handball by defender Nikola Vukcevic.
Atletico dominated possession and the scoring chances but its lack of finishing touch meant it needed goalkeeper Jan Oblak to block a shot by Jose Morales in the 70th to guarantee the victory.
The hosts thought they scored early through Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion, but the referee waived his goal off because of a foul at the start of the attack that he spotted during a video review.
Atletico defender Stefan Savic had to be substituted before 10 minutes were up due to muscle pain in his left thigh.
Earlier, Missed chances and home setbacks — it’s been a familiar plot for Valencia this season. And it happened again on Saturday.
Valencia was held at Mestalla Stadium once more, conceding late to relegation-threatened Valladolid in a 1-1 draw, adding pressure on embattled coach Marcelino.
The plot was repeated: Valencia played well and had plenty of chances to put the game away, including with a penalty kick, but it wasted most of them.
“These things are difficult to explain,” Marcelino said. “It’s not the first time we have a game like this, when we are completely superior but our opponent ends up scoring with a great goal.”
This time, a well-placed free kick by Ruben Alcaraz in the 82nd minute cost Valencia the home victory after Dani Parejo opened the scoring about 10 minutes earlier.
Striker Rodrigo’s penalty in the 54th was saved by Valladolid goalkeeper Jordi Masip, who also stopped forward Santi Mina’s close-range attempt off the rebound. —
Valencia held