Atletico Madrid took advantage of Real Madrid’s humbling loss in El Clasico by moving past their crosstown rivals into second place in La Liga after winning 1-0 at Real Betis Balompie on Sunday.
Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion blasted in a rebound for what proved to be the winner in the seventh minute after Atletico’s intense pressure recovered the ball. After that, the hosts were outmatched and never mustered a serious challenge, while Atletico squandered several more chances.
Atletico replaced Real Madrid as Barcelona’s closest title rivals, four points off the pace through 12 rounds.
Photo: EPA
Atletico’s success in exploiting Real Madrid’s woes will increase the pressure on Real coach Rafael Benitez, whose team are now six points behind Barcelona and two points adrift of Diego Simeone’s side.
“We move ahead game by game and we’ll see how far we can go,” Simeone said.
However, Koke did not budge from Atletico’s standard line that the surprise 2013-2014 champions are not chasing another title, given their significantly smaller budget compared with Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Photo: EPA
“We are happy to be second, but it’s just an anecdote,” Koke said. “We have to continue. [The media] talks about us being candidates for the title, our goal is to finish third. Anything above that is just extra.”
Betis, who remained 12th after a fourth consecutive home defeat, lost goalkeeper Antonio Adan to a right-foot injury in the second half.
Elsewhere, Villarreal scored late to salvage a 1-1 draw at home with Sociedad Deportiva Eibar that lifted them into fourth place.
In a match that both teams finished with 10 men, leftback Jaume Costa received Denis Suarez’s through-ball and poked home Villarreal’s equalizer off the post with five minutes left.
Sergi Enrich had given Eibar the lead in the 27th minute, following a tribute before kickoff to the victims of the Paris terror attacks. The French national anthem was played, while a large monitor displayed the message “We Are All France” in Spanish at El Madrigal.
Villarreal moved above RC Celta de Vigo and into Spain’s last UEFA Champions League spot, but the players lamented not getting the win.
“It’s a pity because we were convinced of the importance of taking all three points,” Costa said.
At the other end of the table, Brazilian striker Deyverson scored twice in Levante UD’s 3-0 win at Real Sporting de Gijon to move the team off the bottom of table with their first win in three matches under new coach Joan Ferrer.
Granada also got a much-needed first home win of the season, and their first victory in 10 league matches, to emerge from the relegation zone after downing Athletic Bilbao 2-0.
Bilbao saw their seven-game winning streak in all competitions come to an end, partly due to Aymeric Laporte’s errors in defense.
The promising talent had a rough outing, scoring an own-goal in the fifth minute and losing a ball that led to Isaac Success securing the win in the 59th, before he left with a leg injury.
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