Correa and Oblak save Atlético
Simeone’s men suffered against a Girona team that sought a draw until the end
MADRID, 8 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Atlético de Madrid, with two blows from Ángel Correa, won this Saturday against Girona at the Cívitas Metropolitano (2-1), a match in which Diego Pablo Simeone’s men relaxed after taking a 2-0 lead and in the that the Catalans, who got closer in the light with a great goal from Atlético on loan Roro Riquelme, insistently sought a draw against an inspired Jan Oblak.
The Argentine striker, with a goal at the start of each half, gave an advantage to an Atletico team that promised them happiness but had to suffer the reaction unleashed after the goal of one of their own, midfielder Roro Riquelme, who spurred the team red-and-white against the team with which he did the preseason and which he loaned to Girona.
Up to two times the Slovenian Jan Oblak had to appear with two providential hands and allying himself once with the stick and once with the crossbar to prevent the visiting team from taking any loot from the Cívitas Metropolitano. However, Diego Pablo Simeone’s men breathed and left behind the painful defeat of ‘Champions’ against Bruges, against whom they will seek revenge next week at home.
With two changes compared to the eleven against the Belgians, with Ángel Correa and Matheus Cunha for the injured Marcos Llorente and for Álvaro Morata, it was precisely one of the novelties that was in charge of opening the can soon in the mattress area; In the first red and white arrival to the rival area, Reinildo put a filtered ball for Griezmann, who served the Argentine to the second post so that he only had to push the ball (min. 5).
The Catalan team, after a few minutes of hesitation after the goal, reacted and asked for a penalty in an action that lasted more than half an hour in which Oriol Romeu fell in the area against Cunha. The Brazilian responded with a couple of occasions that Juan Carlos disrupted and Yangel Herrera, in extra time of the first half, came close to equalizing with a header that went near the left post.
Míchel made a double substitution after the break to try to give life to the team, but once again the figure of Correa emerged to increase the income of the ‘Cholo’ after a blunder by the visiting goalkeeper; Juan Carlos failed in the pass, the Argentine intercepted the ball and beat him low to make it 2-0 (min. 48).
The duel seemed on track and Simeone, who shortly before lamented Nahuel Molina’s occasion to score the third against Juan Carlos, reserved some of his men with a triple substitution in the 65th minute thinking about the ‘final’ next week against the Bruges.
However, Roro Riquelme, on loan to the ‘gironins’ by the mattress team, took a shot from the edge of the box that grazed Giménez and against whom Jan Oblak could do nothing (min. 66); the athletic academy player apologized to a crowd that even applauded his goal and condemned to suffer until the final whistle.
Taty Castellanos, also from the edge, once again tested the Slovenian goalkeeper, who this time was in no trouble to block the shot but did have to pull out a saving hand when in the 76th minute Aleix García put together a long shot that later also crashed into the the stick.
The midfielder from Tarragona once again demanded Oblak with a shot into the top corner before which the Balkan goalkeeper made a tremendous stretch, and which preceded a shot at Stuani’s crossbar in the 86th minute. Only the final whistle broke the tension in the Cívitas Metropolitano , which is already waiting for Bruges.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 2 – GIRONA 1 (1-0, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
MADRID ATHLETIC: Oblak; Molina, Savic, Giménez, Reinildo; Correa (Joao Félix, min.74), Koke, Witsel (Kondogbia, min.74), Carrasco (Saúl Ñíguez, min.65); Cunha (Morata, min.65) and Griezmann (Lemar, min.65).
GIRONA: Juan Carlos; Bueno, Bernardo, Javi Hernández (Terrats, min.84); Arnau Martínez (Valery, min.46), Aleix García, Oriol Romeu, Yangel Herrera (Stuani, min.64), Miguel Guti (Yan Couto, min.46); Riquelme (Toni Villa, min.81) and Taty Castellanos.
–GOALS:
1-0, min.5: Belt.
2-0, min.48: Belt.
2-1, min.66: Riquelme.
–REFEREE: Martínez Munuera (C.Valenciano). He admonished Giménez (min.45 + 1), Cunha (min.49) and Savic (min.89) by Atlético de Madrid and Javi Hernández (min.55) by Girona.
–STADIUM: Cívitas Metropolitano. 54,069 spectators.
–INCIDENTS: The players of both teams made the corridor to Koke Resurrection for becoming the player with the most games played in the history of the rojiblanco team (555). In addition, a minute of silence was observed in memory of former Atlético player José Pacheco, who died on September 28.