MADRID: Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Lemar scored goals to give Atletico Madrid a commanding 3-0 win over Valencia on Saturday and extend their unbeaten run in La Liga to 10 games.
The home side at Metropolitano Stadium dominated the opponents completely and registered its third consecutive win in the Spanish League.
Griezmann opened the scoring in the first half, slotting home from a close range before Carrose doubled the lead after the break.
Substitute Lemar wrapped up Atletico’s win in the 67th minute, finishing eloquently from Alvaro Morata’s cross as Diego Simeone’s side produced another contest on high note.
Following the victory, Atletico jumped to 51 points and strengthened their claim on third place in the standing, six points ahead of fourth-placed Real Sociedad, who face Elche on Sunday.
However, Valencia are left on the edge of the relegation zone, equal on 26 points with Almeria and Getafe.
Earlier, Celta Vigo breezed past Espanyol 3-1 as goals from Gabri Viega, Iago Aspas and Carles Perez took the side to 10th place.
Almeria held Cadiz to a 1-1 draw after Gonzalo Merelo scored the equalizer on a penalty deep into the stoppage time.
Rayo Vallecano ended on a 2-2 draw against Girona.
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VALENCIA: Antoine Griezmann’s stellar goal in the second half helped Atletico Madrid beat Valencia 1-0 to surge in La Liga standings following their crushing defeat by Getafe in the last game.
Atletico made a promising start and unleashed a vigorous attack against the opponent as Joao Felix nearly hit the post but Mamardashvili sprawled on the right corner to save for Valencia.
The referee slapped Valencia with a red card before halftime as Thierry Correia brought down Alvaro Morata but a VAR review upheld the foul and only granted a yellow.
Atletico continued the attack in the second half and finally took a lead in the 66th minute when Griezmann shot the ball from the area into the bottom left corner after a slight deviation with no chance for Mamardashvili to stop it.
The home side failed to equalize the lead in the remaining time taking Atletico to the sixth position in the standings after the narrow win.
Meanwhile, Athletic Club clinched a comprehensive win over the home side, Cadiz, by 4-0 in the earlier game on Monday thanks to Gorka Guruzeta’s brace with Inaki Williams and Alejandro Remiro scoring a goal apiece.
With the win, Athletic Club held off Villareal to take the fourth spot with Real Madrid running on top at the end of match day three of the ongoing season.
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