Atlético started the second round of LaLiga with the mission of defending the winter ‘crown’. And he got stuck in the first game in which he held the lead. Leganés narrowly beat a red and white team that paid dearly for the three balls it sent to the woodwork in a first half that it clearly dominated.
In the second, the cucumber team grew and solidly blocked the right wing through which Simeone’s men were looking for oil. The colchoneros tried to recover sensations, but the locals blurred them. They had the opportunity to achieve the lesser evil – a draw – with a penalty in the 90th minute, but Antoine Griezmann missed it.
Diego Pablo Simeone’s team was superior in the first half – whose pace was very high – and had three clear scoring chances that hit the woodwork. Of course, the cucumber team was the first to warn and had a 1-0 lead with only 40 seconds played in the match. It was through a shot from outside the area by Juan Cruz that grazed the left post.
From that attempt by the local team, Atlético settled down and seemed more settled on the field of play by having the ball. Borja Jiménez surprised with a fairly advanced defense, which gave Simeone’s men a powerful weapon: Giuliano’s breaks down the right wing. The rojiblancos generated a lot of danger with the Molina-Giuliano-Julián Álvarez connection.
Atlético had the first opportunity to take the lead with a shot from their killer, Julián Álvarez, which went to the crossbar. The ‘Spider’ looked for the corner, but ran into the post. Two minutes later, the Argentine alerted Butarque again with a drive that ended with a cross shot from point-blank range that was cleared between goalkeeper Dmitrovic and Nastasic.
In the 25th minute, again from the right side – which was a real torture for the Lega defense -, Giuliano Simeone found an unmarked Griezmann. He put in a cross that the Frenchman finished off, but the ball hit the post. The ‘7’ of the Colchoneros was quick and took another shot on the rebound, but the Pepinero goalkeeper repelled it.
Before half an hour, Simeone’s men had the third ball hit the crossbar. After a corner, Giuliano put the ball with a bicycle kick into the small area and Gallagher sent it to the post with a header. The visiting players went to half-time with many opportunities to have gone ahead on the scoreboard, but without achieving it. Until the first 45 minutes, Dmitrovic’s posts and interventions slowed down the leader.
In the second half, Borja Jiménez’s men came out more in tune. Proof of this was that, in just three minutes, they achieved two corners in their favor. Precisely in the second came the winning goal. It was in the 48th minute when Raba connected from the corner with Nastasic, who with a great header sent a very tight ball to the back of the net to the right post.
Atleti had no choice but to row to defend the lead and come back. However, the local goal diluted them and the danger they generated in the first half faded. The red and white offensive incidence was diluted. Simeone revolutionized the right wing by changing Molina and Giuliano for Llorente and Correa to achieve the freshness they were missing, but he did not succeed.
The league championship leader looked helpless. I couldn’t find the sensations of the first 45 minutes. They only scared Butarque in the 80th minute with a run by Ángel Correa, which ended in a deflected shot but which was the clearest chance to tie.
As the match entered its final minutes, the referee reviewed in the VAR a handball by Sergio González in the area after a cross from Rodrigo De Paul. The referee pointed it out, but Griezmann missed it in the 90th minute with a poorly taken shot.
The Colchonero defeat puts an end to the streak of 15 consecutive victories in all competitions – eight in the league championship – and, in addition, puts its first place in LaLiga in jeopardy: Real Madrid would need a draw to take the lead.
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