Morata and Correa sign the victory
A hard-fought victory against Almería thanks to first-half goals from Morata and Correa. The former red and white Leo Baptistao scored Almeria's goal. On Wednesday, next match at the Cívitas Metropolitano in the Champions League against Lazio.
Atlético de Madrid came out determined to put the game to bed against Almería very early on. The team dominated from start to finish, pressing high up against the Italians and every time they reached their opponents' area they were synonymous with danger. That was the case in the 6th minute, when Griezmann's shot from Lino's pass was saved by the keeper. After a VAR review, De Burgos Bengoetxea disallowed the goal. But that only unleashed a brilliant attacking play from our team. The chances and goals came and went.
First it was De Paul from distance who tried to surprise but his shot went wide. In the 16th minute, the prelude to the first goal, with a play between Griezmann and De Paul with Correa's final shot that went just wide of the left post of the Almeria goal. And, in four minutes, two goals. In both with the inestimable collaboration of Griezmann, who wanted to celebrate the Mahou trophy for the best Atlético player in the month of November with a good game. In the 18th he served a delightful assist to Morata for the '19' to dribble past Maximiano and score the 1-0. And, in the 22nd minute, the ball was recovered by the Frenchman to filter a perfect pass for Llorente, who served Correa the goal on a silver platter.
The third could have come in the 35th minute from a direct free-kick by De Paul, which found the top right corner of the visitors' goal, but Maximiano produced a masterful hand to turn it behind for a corner. Almeria tried again in the final stretch of the first half with Embarba's shot inside the box saved by Oblak on the first of four minutes of extra time. And just before half-time Griezmann took a heavy blow that left him sore on the turf as De Burgos signalled the end and the teams retired. The Frenchman withdrew with a sore right hip but was able to return to start the second half.
The second half started with a more incisive Almeria who had two chances very quickly. The first was a shot from Arribas after a corner but his shot went just wide of the post. And the second was a cross from Alex Pozo that was headed by Embarba and deflected into the corner by Oblak. But in the 62nd minute the Indalic goal arrived. Alex Pozo's shot was cleared off the line by Oblak and Leo Baptistao took advantage to make it 2-1.
The Andalusians came to life with the goal and Oblak again had to intervene with another shot from former 'rojiblanco' Baptistao in the 79th minute, but Memphis had a chance to make it 3-1 in the 87th minute after a control on the edge of the area but his shot went just over the crossbar. A minute later, the Dutchman headed wide from Molina's cross. The match ended in victory for our team before hosting Lazio next Wednesday in the last matchday of the Champions League group stage.
