Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann struck two goals for a 2-0 win against crosstown rivals Getafe on Tuesday, helping his side take the overnight lead of La Liga.
Griezmann continued his strong start to the season with his fourth and fifth goals in six games in all competitions. Atletico’s fourth win in five rounds moved the club above Barcelona on 12 points each.
The France forward put Atletico in front in the fourth minute before rounding off the victory at the Estadio Vicente Calderon with a second goal in the 90th.
Photo: AP
“[Griezmann] is in a very good moment,” coach Diego Simeone said. “He has grown incredibly and is a very important player for this team.”
Elsewhere, Imanol Agirretxe netted a hat-trick to give Real Sociedad their first win of the season, a 3-0 victory against Granada, while RCD Espanyol midfielder Victor Alvarez scored his first goal in 61 first-division appearances in their 1-0 win over Valencia.
Griezmann’s talent was enough for an otherwise uninspired effort.
He deftly controlled an off-target shot by Gabi Fernandez and scored from close range for the fourth-minute opener.
And after Getafe came close to an equalizer when Pedro Leon missed in the 62nd, Atletico substitute Jackson Martinez ran onto a long pass and squared the ball for Griezmann to finish.
In Granada, Agirretxe started his torment of the hosts’ defense by deflecting David Zurutuza’s pass off the post and into the net in the seventh minute.
The striker got a second goal in the 32nd when he pounced on Doria’s poor pass and scrambled the ball past goalkeeper Andres Fernandez. He struck a third time in the 79th after controlling a lobbed pass, brushing off a defender and chipping the ball over Fernandez.
Espanyol bossed the match in Barcelona, other than a pair of headers in each half from Valencia’s Rodrigo Moreno that goalkeeper Pau Lopez did well to save.
Alvarez gave Espanyol the lead in the 18th minute when the forward was alone at the far post to head in a Marco Asensio free-kick that was flicked on inadvertently by Valencia’s Santi Mina.
Asensio, a promising forward on loan from Real Madrid, led Espanyol’s attack throughout and drew a fine save from goalkeeper Jaume Domenech just before halftime.
Espanyol got their second straight win following a humbling 6-0 loss at home to Madrid.
“This is the best way to give us a boost after the poor game we played last time at home,” Alvarez said.
Valencia’s most disgruntled fans were already calling for coach Nuno Santo Espirito to be fired after his team drew their previous league game.
Now, with only one win in five rounds and a losing start to the Champions League group phase, the manager faces a critical test at the Estadio Mestalla against Granada tomorrow.
“We have to turn this around as soon as possible and that means on Friday,” Espirito Santo said.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
RSS