Atletico Madrid 2-0 Getafe
Two first-half goals from Antoine Griezmann and Saul Niguez gave Atletico Madrid another three points to take them to within two of league leaders Barcelona.
Over 55,000 fans packed into the Wanda Metropolitano with the hopes to see another home victory, and the hosts put on a clinical display to frustrate Getafe as the visitors ended up with nine men. Atleti put the pressure back on Barcelona at the top of La Liga, but the champions have a game in hand, and La Liga 2019 betting markets expect the Catalans to keep their noses ahead.
Highlights of the game
Getafe had the first shot on goal on five minutes when wing-back Damian Suarez fired in a dangerous ball, but Angel Rodriguez’ effort was blocked. Leandro Cabrera’s header met the same fate after he rose to get on the end of a cross from Vitorino Antunes. But after a bright start, Jose Bordalas’ side found itself a goal behind. And that’s always a bad thing for the visitors to the Wanda Metropolitano.
Los Rojiblancos have been relying heavily on the goals of Griezmann, and the Frenchman came good again on 27 minutes: he took a pass from Thomas Partey and fired a left-footed shot from outside the box into the corner of the net and beyond the reach of David Soria.
As the hosts began to turn the screw, Griezmann tried his luck from distance. While his shot was wayward, Atleti doubled their lead on 37 minutes. Nikola Kalinic saw his shot saved by Soria, but there was nothing the Getafe stopper could do when Atletico kept the heat on and Saul Niguez fired low into the bottom-right corner.
Partey almost made it three just before half-time when Niguez found him in space outside the penalty area, but his shot flew narrowly over the bar.
Atletico keeper Jan Oblak was called into action early in the second half to save a header from Jaime Mata which was well-aimed towards the bottom-right corner; and then on 57 minutes, Niguez brought a save out of Soria, taking a nod down from Griezmann and firing at the keeper.
Getafe hadn’t given up, and Oblak had to stretch himself to make a fine save: Samu Saiz took a pot shot from 20 yards, but the keeper got his hand to it in the top-right corner. That was about it for the visitors, and what looked like being an expected and respectable defeat became a bad day at the office when Djene Dakoman and Leandro Cabrera both lost their discipline and picked up a second yellow card each, Dakoman for a nasty foul on Thomas Lemar.
Key statistics
We thought Getafe might get a goal in our pre-match SBOBET tips, but that was going to be a big ask with only two shots on target. Atleti scored twice and brought four saves out of Soria, but the overall shot count of ten to six tells the story of a well-contested game snuffed out by Atleti’s clinical professionalism, keeping the ball well with a passing accuracy of 83 per cent compared with Getafe’s 65 per cent.
It’s been 13 games since Getafe drew a blank. But you can’t fault their commitment, though slightly over-zealous at times, committing 26 fouls and picking up three yellow cards and two reds!
Atletico Madrid now won 21 of the 33 meetings since 2001 and are unbeaten against Getafe in seven. And Simeone’s men are now on a run of 19 games without defeat.
What’s next?
On Sunday Barcelona make the short trip to take on Girona in the Catalan Derby, but Atleti have cut the gap at the top to two points for the time being.
Simeone’s men meet Europa hopefuls Real Betis away from home next week, and then it’s the big one the following week. Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid will go a long way towards moulding the end of the season for both the Madrid giants. Don’t miss that game; it’s going to be an epic feature in the La Liga 2019 highlights.
Los Azulones have a second-leg Copa del Rey tie away to Valencia in midweek, and they go in with a one-goal advantage after Jorge Molina gave them the lead in the first leg. And then it’s away to Levante when Jose Bordalas’ team will try to keep their own Europa League dream alive.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
