Atletico Madrid strengthened their position in second place in the Spanish football league standings after securing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over guests Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday at the "Metropolitano" stadium, during the tenth round of the competition.
Defensive performance only
Atletico Madrid secured their sixth consecutive league win, raising their tally to 25 points in second place, two points behind league leaders Barcelona, who host Real Madrid on Sunday. Meanwhile, Deportivo La Coruña remained stuck on 11 points in tenth place.
The visiting team started the match with early attacking pressure and nearly opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved a header from Miguel Llorente. Oblak continued his impressive performance, saving his goal from the first half's most dangerous chance after failing to catch Yerymi Hernandez's shot, before intervening again with his feet to deny Lorenzo Amatucci from following up the ball into the net.
The decisive goal
With the second half underway, Atletico Madrid intensified their attacking efforts, and Argentine Julian Alvarez scored the match's only goal in the 48th minute, redirecting Alejandro Grimaldo's cross from the left side inside the penalty area into the net.
Alvarez nearly doubled the home side's lead in the 71st minute when he received a pass inside the penalty area from Alex Baena and broke through to the goal, but goalkeeper Leonardo Roman made a brilliant save to deny his shot, keeping his team in the match.
In the final moments, Deportivo La Coruña missed a valuable chance to equalize. The ball reached Kevin Sanchez close to the goal, but he shot directly at Oblak, who successfully deflected the danger following a pass from Adama Traore, allowing Atletico to maintain their lead until the final whistle.
Other results
In other matches of the same round, Elche defeated hosts Rayo Vallecano 3-0, and Villarreal beat Valencia 2-1. Meanwhile, Racing Santander secured their match against guests Espanyol with the same scoreline.
Source: Anadolu Agency
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