Atleti earn key win at Villarreal
Our team picked up the three points at the Estadio de la Cerámica on Sunday.
Atleti earned a key win at Villarreal on Sunday thanks to a Pedraza own goal and a fantastic strike from Joao Félix.
The hosts started strongly, making it difficult for us and putting pressure on our defence. We stood our ground, though, and waited for our chance to hit back. We did so through Saúl, who had the first shot on goal, but Asenjo saved it nicely. Shortly thereafter, however, we took the lead as Savic headed a Lemar cross and Pedraza ultimately pushed the ball into the back of the net. After a VAR review, the goal was given. We reached the break with a one-goal lead.
Simeone brought Joao Félix on for Lemar at half-time and Luis Suárez had the first big chance of the second half. The Uruguayan struck powerfully from inside the box and Asenjo made a brilliant save. The Spanish goalkeeper also denied Correa a few minutes later. Oblak also had his fair share of work, producing several excellent saves throughout the second half. With 20’ to go, we finally doubled our lead through a superb Joao Félix strike from the edge of the box. Kondogbia and Torreira came on for Suárez and Correa in the following minutes as the hosts attacked and looked to cut the deficit. We held on to our two-goal lead, though, to pick up three key points on the road.
Next up: the Madrid Derby.
