Atleti earn important late win away from home in thrilling match
Our team earned an important 3-2 win at Valladolid thanks to two goals by Griezmann and one from Kalinic.
Atleti earned an important 3-2 win on Saturday against Valladolid after a late goal by Griezmann.
The home side showed from the off what a strong defensive team they are. Our players tried their best to unlock Valladolid's defence, but it proved a challenge in the first 20 minutes of the game. From that point, our team started to find ways to penetrate the home side's defence, and we enjoyed a few chances before Kalinic got the first goal in the 26th minute. A great through ball by Griezmann found the Croat's nice run, and our number 9 hit it first time to find the back of the net. Atleti had found their goal thanks to the in-form striker.
But we didn't stop attacking after that, and in the last minute of the first half we were awarded a penalty. Griezmann took a shot and the ball hit a defender's arm. The Frenchman rose up to the challenge and converted the penalty to send our team to the changing room with a fantastic two-goal lead.
However, the second half didn't start in the best way possible for Atleti. Valladolid scored from a corner after just over ten minutes, and a few minutes later Filipe Luis was injured. The Brazilian was substituted by Thomas Partey, which meant Saúl went on to play as left-back. After the hour mark, our team conceded another goal from a corner. We were unlucky this time, as the ball was deflected from Saúl's leg and finished in the back of the net. Valladolid had equalised after just 15 minutes, and Atleti had half an hour to get back in the lead.
Around the 70th minute, Simeone decided to make the second change. Goalscorer Kalinic made way for Vitolo, hoping we could benefit from the Spaniard's speed. Five minutes later, our coach made the final substitution: Gelson Martins came on for Correa.
Valladolid were unchained, backed by their crowd. But our team was able to stay focused and overcome the situation. We started attacking again... And we found our goal. Once again Griezmann, this time in the 80th minute, put the ball in the back of the net to put us in the lead once again. The Frenchman now had two goals and one assist in the game. We had ten more minutes to hang on to the lead in this thrilling match. We did, thus earning three very important points away from home.
