Atlético de Madrid give their all but end up losing to Real Madrid (2-0)

Forlán strikes a ball off the post in the second half

Atlético de Madrid had six fateful minutes in the classic derby against Real Madrid and ended up paying for it. The ‘rojiblanco’ squad gave its best and had its chances, but ran into Casillas and the post on Forlán’s shot. Furthermore, there was a possible penalty in the first half that wasn’t called by Mateu Lahoz and which could have changed the course of the match.

Real Madrid came out in the derby with the goal of scoring first, and the first chances went to them. Pepe forced De Gea to make the first save in the third minute, with a header that was wrapped up by the ‘rojiblanco’ goalkeeper. The second warning from the home team came in minute seven, when Khedira scored in an offside position.

In spite of everything, Atlético de Madrid had taken the pitch in solid formation, with Mario Suárez in the central midfield with Tiago, while Forlán returned to the starting line-up alongside Agüero, and with Reyes and Simão on the wings. In the end, Valera started at right back, while Ujfalusi moved over to centre-half with Domínguez, and Filipe Luis played at left back.

Nevertheless, Atlético de Madrid made two mistakes, and against a team like Real Madrid you can end up paying for such errors. First, in the 13th minute, a bouncing ball that nobody was able to clear fell to Carvalho, who beat De Gea from close range. And in minute 19, a free kick from the corner of the area, with two ‘rojiblanco’ players forming a wall, thus leaving plenty of space for Özil to score, surprising the ‘rojiblanco’ netminder.

With a 2-0 lead, the team from the banks of the Manzanares River knew that they had to change the script, at least in attack, as the ‘blancos’ only had a shot from Ronaldo that went wide. The ‘rojiblancos’ had several scoring chances, such as a play from Agüero in minute 28, but his low cross was sent out by Casillas and the ensuing shot from Forlán was deflected away for a corner by Carvalho. One minute later, everything could have changed if Mateu Lahoz had called a possible hand-ball by Xabi Alonso inside the area after a shot from Kun.

Quique Sánchez Flores’ lads had two more chances in the final stretch of the half. A header from Ujfalusi was off target after a corner kick at the half-hour mark and a rifle from Reyes from outside the area was saved by Casillas with a flying stop. The only thing missing from the ‘rojiblancos’ in the first half was a goal, after having been up to the challenge and picking themselves back up after the first two blows from José Mourinho’s men.

After the re-start, it seemed like the script was the same as from the first half, but with three clear chances for the home side, a volley from Higuaín off the outside of the post and two more from Cristiano Ronaldo that were well-saved by De Gea. All of those came within six minutes of each other. However, Atlético responded quickly with a shot from Forlán after a corner kick that struck violently off of Casillas' right post.

From that moment on, Quique Sánchez Flores’ squad decided to attack Casillas’ goal more intently and after a shot from Valera that went into the side netting, they had two clear opportunities. The first came from Reyes with a left-footed strike that brushed past the far upper corner, and the second from Agüero, who galloped down the left flank and ripped a shot that was parried away for a corner by Casillas.

Quique Sánchez Flores ‘burned’ his ships with Raúl García and Diego Costa, trying to bring on more danger, while Mourinho’s substitutions were made to control the result, taking off Higuaín in favour of Diarra. Nevertheless, De Gea had to make several appearances in the final minutes to prevent another goal from being scored.

In short, a defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu, and now the ‘rojiblancos’ haven’t come away with a victory in the derby in eleven years. This time, the goals from Carvalho and Özil six minutes from each other were lethal to a team that deserved at least one goal, although they lacked the determination in the final metres.
 
REAL MADRID, 2 (Carvalho and Özil); ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 0

Real Madrid: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho (Albiol, 82’), Marcelo; Xabi Alonso, Ozil, Khedira; Ronaldo, Higuaín (Benzema, 73’) and Di María (Diarra, 82’).

Atlético de Madrid: De Gea; Valera, Ujfalusi, Domínguez, Filipe Luis; Tiago (Raúl García, 68’), Mario Suárez, Reyes, Simão (Diego Costa, 75’); Forlán and Agüero.

Referee: Mateu Lahoz. For Real Madrid showed yellow cards to Khedira (71’) and Carvalho (75’). For Atlético booked Mario Suárez (60’) and Tiago (65’).

Incidents: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Matchday 10 of the League National Championship. Atlético de Madrid was represented in the Director’s Box by Don Enrique Cerezo, President, Don Miguel Ángel Gil Marín, Managing Director, Don Lázaro Albarracín, Vice-President of the Social Department, Don Antonio Alonso, Vice-President of the Sales Department, board members Don Severiano Gil y Gil and Don Oscar Gil Marín, Don Clemente Villaverde, Executive, Don Miguel Pérez, Shareholder and Don Enrique Collar, President of the Atlético de Madrid Foundation. Also in attendance was the President of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional, Don José Luis Astiazarán. Camacho was the player dropped from those 19 that had been included in the squad list.

GOALS:
1-0.  13’. Carvalho pounces on a loose ball inside the area to beat De Gea.
2-0.  19’. Ozil takes a free kick from the side and surprises the ‘rojiblanco’ goalkeeper.
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