Diego Costa and David Villa delivered again for Atletico Madrid, whose La Liga title charge continued to gain strength on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao.
Villa enjoyed Atletico’s best opportunities at the Vicente Calderon and put the hosts ahead after 32 minutes by volleying Juanfran’s headed cross through the crowded penalty area and into the goal.
Nine minutes later, Koke delivered a perfect ball to Costa, who cut back to dribble around Erik Moran and fire a low shot beyond goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz for his joint league-leading 13th goal of the season.
Photo: Reuters
Bilbao rarely threatened and they were reduced to 10 men in the 81st minute when Erik Moran was shown a second yellow.
“The team showed great rhythm right from the start and from the first 15 minutes on we dominated the game,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.
The victory put Atletico Madrid just a point behind La Liga leaders Barcelona.
“We’re not frustrated that Barcelona keep winning. We’re just happy to keep competing with them after so many rounds,” Simeone said.
Also on Sunday, Valencia lifted some of the pressure off coach Miroslav Djukic with their first win in five rounds, a 1-0 victory at Getafe.
Granada scored in stoppage-time for a 1-0 win at Levante UD, while Malaga also needed a stoppage-time winner from a late substitute to beat Real Betis Balompie 3-2.
Costa, the Brazilian-born, naturalized Spaniard, has spearheaded Atletico’s title credentials so far this season, but it was captain Gabi who first tested Iraizoz in the 18th minute and the Basque goalie made an outstanding reaction save to a low drive.
Costa then showed how dangerous he is when given space in front of goal as he moved freely down the left side to poke a shot past Iraizoz, but also beyond the far post.
Atletico controlled a physical game and were inching closer to an opener when Iraizoz made another reaction save to deny Villa’s powerful half-volley in the 26th minute.
However, Iraizoz could not keep out the Spanish striker’s shot from almost the same spot moments later, as Villa’s sixth goal of the season made it 1-0.
Koke has been instrumental in Costa’s scoring run and the Spain midfielder again set up the striker to add the second, putting him even with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the La Liga scoring chart.
“He’s such a great player who is growing in every area,” Simeone said of Costa, who had chances to score several more in the closing stages. “He’s getting better in every aspect, from recovering the ball, controlling it, his movement, and that is helping the team play better.”
Valencia had lost three straight before the game at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, but an impressive first-half strike from Dorlan Pabon sealed the morale-boosting victory.
The Colombian striker unleashed a powerful shot from long range in the 40th minute that flew beyond goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya into the left corner.
Levante had a penalty in the 25th minute, but midfielder Nabil El Zhar saw his spot-kick saved by Granada goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez.
That left the game scoreless until Keylor Navas was beaten by Piti’s free-kick, although Granada teammate Manuel Iturra likely distracted the Levante goalkeeper as he stood alone between him and the defensive wall as the ball spun over and in.
Meanwhile, Roque Santa Cruz and Eliseu put Malaga ahead in each half, only for Betis’ Joan Verdu to cancel out the opener with a 33rd-minute free-kick, before Jordi Figueras equalized again with an angled header in the 61st.
Second-half Malaga substitute Samuel Sanchez scored in the fourth minute of stoppage-time by volleying in a rebound after Francisco Portillo’s effort came off the crossbar.
Six minutes of stoppage-time were added after Betis defender Damien Perquis was taken from the field in an ambulance after colliding with Fabrice Olinga in the 55th minute.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was