Atletico Madrid overpower fighting spirit from Real Valladolid to half gap to Real Madrid | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid 4-2 Real Valladolid

After a three-game winless streak that saw Atletico Madrid disengage from the top of the La Liga table, Los Rojiblancos strung together a second win in a row over Real Valladolid on Monday night. La Pucela showed more battle than in most weeks, but ultimately could not hold out for a result.

The game started off in fairly formal fashion, until seven minutes of madness sparked it into life. After a Valladolid set piece saw an Atletico handball punished, La Pucela were all of a sudden in the driving seat. Moussa Sylla sent Jan Oblak the wrong way with his penalty, drilling it low and central. That awoke Atletico though, who responded within two minutes. Giuliano Simeone was too agile for Javi Sanchez, and Valladolid coach Alvaro Rubio must have cursed his side for relinquishing their lead so swiftly.

Julian Alvarez stepped up to send Andre Ferreira the wrong way too, and Atletico drove onwards. Simeone got in behind again down the right after a ball over the top from Marcos Llorente. Cutting inside with ease, Ferreira could not keep his bulleted effort out.

In the space of seven minutes, Los Rojiblancos were in front, and only last-minute Valladolid blocks saved a third before the break. Atletico were dominant for the rest of the game, but it cannot be said that Valladolid did not fight for it – something that they have been bitterly accused of by their fans this season at times.

Making ammends for his penalty foul earlier, a deflected Sanchez free-kick had Oblak helpless for a second time just before the hour mark. Atletico proved that they did indeed have an extra gear on La Pucela though in the final half hour.

Image via Madrid Actual

A third penalty went in their favour, after Llorente pulled off a marvellous turn, and nipped in ahead of Henrique, who brought him down. Alvarez repeated the trick from the first half for his 26th goal of the season with 20 minutes remaining. With 12 minutes to go, Alexander Sorloth made his mark. Another foray down the right saw Alvarez force a save, and Sorloth was on hand to knock home the rebound.

Valladolid stay rooted to the bottom of the table, the distance to safety remaining at 14 points, but with Leganes now 19th and 12 in the distance. Atletico slice the gap back to three points with Real Madrid, as they hope to ensure the final quarter of the season holds some meaning for them.