Atletico Madrid Strikes Twice In Extra Time To Beat Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid were able to record a memorable win over fierce rivals, Real Madrid, in Thursday’s Copa del Rey tie, allowing them to exact a modicum of revenge for their recent Supercopa de Espana loss.
The Copa del Rey tie held at the Estadio Metropolitano ended in a 4-2 victory for the hosts, who were able to win courtesy of goals from Alvaro Morata, Samuel Lino, Antoine Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme.
For Carlo Ancelotti and Los Blancos, the defeat comes as a disappointment, although given the fact they are well placed in both the Champions League and LaLiga EA SPORTS, it is certainly not a season-ending disaster.
Real Madrid unable to take their chances
It proved to be a rather tepid attacking display from the visitors, who were outclassed by Los Rojiblancos, who recorded more shots on goal than their rivals.
Jude Bellingham had the first chance of the match, running through the Atleti defense with ease, however his shot struck the crossbar and bounced clear.
Vinicius Jr. was on hand to almost score just 30 seconds later, jinking inside the penalty area, doing well to avoid contact with a defender, only for his shot to be powered over the bar.
Atleti found themselves under real pressure for the next 10 minutes. Rodrygo forced a smart save out of Jan Oblak, who was extremely agile in keeping the Brazilian out, before Vinicius Jr. then had another tap-in attempt spectacularly parried by the Slovenian.
Samuel Lino then halted Real Madrid’s march with a go-ahead goal against the run of play. He pounced on a loose ball inside the penalty area and placed a shot beyond the goalkeeper into the bottom right corner of the net.
Real Madrid were level before the half-time interval, with Oblak unable to produce further heroics. Rather ironically, the goalkeeper scored a bizarre own goal.
Oblak came rushing out to try and claim a freekick, however he appeared to fail to get proper contact on an attempted punch, which sliced off his glove and into the net.
Alvaro Morata made it 2-1 after 57 minutes, tapping home from close-range after another rebound fell into the path of an attacker.
Joselu almost saved the day
It seemed as though Atletico Madrid were on course to win in normal time, only for Jude Bellingham, to step up and save his team yet again.
He is undoubtedly Los Merengues’ talisman and he provided a cross for Joselu in the 82nd minute, which the Spaniard converted into a goal with a powerful header.
Extra-time saw Atletico start brighter, forcing a smart save from Andriy Lunin after a Marcos Llorente shot, however the quality of the previous 90 minutes was simply not there.
Antoine Griezmann put the hosts back in front on the 100-minute mark, cutting inside after a wonderful solo run and beating Andriy Lunin with a powerful strike that rifled into the roof of the net.
The hosts defended confidently for the remainder of extra-time, but made the result secure with a fourth goal in the final minute. It came through Rodrigo Riquelme who placed a neat side footed shot into the net after a counter-attack.
In the end this goal proved decisive as Atletico Madrid knocked their local rivals out of the Copa del Rey, giving Simeone an excellent chance of another trophy.
