Atlético de Madrid - Athletic Club

Atlético defeated Athletic Club 2-0 at Wanda Metropolitano, with goals from Saúl and Morata, in a game where the lions ran into an enormous Oblak in the first half. We must now wait for a chance to break the bad streak and look up again on Wednesday, in the fixture against Espanyol.

Knowing that creating chances is the most difficult thing to do at Wanda, Athletic had a very clear one in the first minute. Nevertheless, beating Oblak is a complicated mission. Before the first minute of the game had elapsed, with an amazing jump, Iñigo Martínez was about to score after a corner-kick, but the Slovenian goalkeeper flew to save the shot with the tip of his fingers.

The lions were mostly playing on their opponent’s side of the pitch, but Atlético do not need much to score. Saúl beat Simón assisted by an always-threatening Correa, who delivered a back pass from the area. Muniain’s fall in their rivals’ box and a shot from Raúl García that made Oblak fly again were the main threats Athletic posed. They barely suffered afterwards, when a long throw-in aimed at Correa was easily gathered by Simón.

Early in the second half, Garitano made a few changes on the bench, substituting Córdoba for Ibai. Atlético were more involved in the pressure than in the first half. A cross from the player from Santutxu was headed by Williams and finished off by Muniain, who netted the ball in through the side of the goal with a spectacular volley. However, a minute later, Simeone’s side went  2-0 up. Correa entered the box and sent a ball towards the back post, where Morata pushed it into the net. There were no opportunities to get back into the match in the remaining minutes.