Forceful with two goals in two minutes, Atlético struck fast and hard in Vallecas in a game in which they only found themselves in trouble in the final stretch. He resolved the duel in just over twenty minutes. A counter to frame culminated by Nahuel Molina and a corner kick hammered by Mario Hermoso. Two lucks that fill Simeone’s eye a lot. Fran García’s goal came three minutes from time, but with Rayo already very worn out by the expulsion of Lejeune at the start of the second half.
Installed in a streak of nine victories and three draws since losing to Barcelona, the colchoneros blow the neck of Real Madrid, which is already lurking just two points away. With qualification for the next Champions League very close, only the runner-up is at stake, but for Simeone and his players, with no titles to fight for much sooner than expected, second place has become the great objective with which that spruce up the season.
For Vallecas you have to know how to move and for its stadium you have to know how to adjust to its dimensions. Those five meters in length and width of less than most pitches can become a cursed checkerboard. And more with this Rayo de Iraola, who seeks to get the ball away at full speed and turns the matches in his fiefdom into permanent individual disputes. A minefield of pressure traps where the fine and precise touch is not easy to take for a walk.
And in that soccer of removing and leaving, no one was imposed. Until Atlético found a flurry of quick and precise touches that drew a high-school counterattack. From a free kick in favor of Rayo came a supersonic counter to a touch, from left to right, from the strong side to the weak side, as the manuals say. Carrasco, Griezmann, Morata and Nahuel Molina, who emerged free from the right-hand lane to execute Dimitrievski with a cross shot. The Argentine ran eagerly to show Correa’s shirt, absent due to the recent death of his mother. Nahuel Molina’s rebound, like De Paul’s, is proportional to that of the team after the World Cup break. They have left their doubts behind and now show the solidity and reliability that was demanded of them.
The Lightning had not risen from that first blow when he received another. Dimitrievski got stuck in a half-out on a corner from Carrasco and Hermoso smashed it with a header at the far post. The game is over. This Atlético also seems to have recovered that skin that made them impenetrable when they took the lead on the scoreboard. Two goals ahead was a lot for a Rayo that found itself knocked out much sooner than it could have expected. Only Raúl de Tomás disturbed Oblak before the intermission with a meek spoon that he hunted between Savic and Giménez.
Rayo did not want to lose face in the duel, despite the disadvantage. He returned from the booth impetuous, ready to see if offering melee again would set the duel on fire. He tried to spread out on the sides, with Balliu, Fran García, Isi and Álvaro García stepping on the accelerator. The production was low and Iraola was unruly with a triple change of dynamite. Trejo, Camel and Falcao. It turned out that the desperate plan fell apart shortly. Lejeune grabbed Morata when he was about to face Dimitrievski. What first was a yellow card, the VAR turned it into a direct red because the French center-back was the last man. With one less, everything was impossible for Rayo.
Iraola’s team was exposed to a greater beating. It did not happen because Simeone’s footballers lacked the mettle to finish off frank counterattack plays. Griezmann, Morata, Lemar, De Paul and Marcos Llorente were able to extend the lead. He gave the same. Atlético had already been forceful with a speed that ended the duel in less than twenty-five minutes. Fran García, with a left footed cross and from a distance, adjusted the game on the scoreboard, but he lacked air to push Oblak further.
You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#Atlético #hit #Vallecas