He Atletico Madrid maintains its rise in the ranking of LaLiga Santander and distanced itself in third place by winning this Monday 1-0 once morest Gironathanks to a goal in the 94th minute of Alvaro Morata, in the match that completed the twenty-fifth day of the championship.
The set of DT Diego Pablo Simeone He finally broke the spell of Montilivi when he was on his way to adding his fourth draw in as many visits. A corner kick ended up walking through Gazzaniga’s goal until he found the foot of Gazzaniga at the far post. Alvaro Morata, who had to wait a couple of minutes to celebrate the vital goal following a lengthy VAR review to determine if he was offside.
In this way, the Madrid team increased its solid moment in the local tournament where it has already accumulated nine games without losing and where it already leads the league by three and six points. Real society and the Betis in their fight for third place. Girona, on the other hand, sees their rise towards a more comfortable zone slowed down and they remain four points behind the relegation.
Atlético began suffering in Montilivi. Girona came out very intense and strong in their pressure up top, which made DT Simeone’s men uncomfortable, who had a hard time leaving their field and looking into the rival area. However, despite their dominance, the locals did not get much offensive revenue, except for a shot without excessive danger from ‘Taty’ Castellanos.
Little by little, the colchoneros began to rebuild themselves and change the script of the match, especially thanks to Llorente, Griezmann and Memphis. Only the lack of more skill inside the area of the latter would have given more reward to his team, which brought much more danger to the Gazzaniga area.
The French ‘8’ gave the first warning following a drop from Memphis, but he did not shoot well, while the Dutch striker immediately had another good option following a cross from his teammate following a great pass into Llorente’s space, although his volley went too high.
A shot from Carrasco well repelled by Gazzaniga closed good minutes for Atlético, who grew and took control of the game. It was more difficult for Girona to deploy, but they were able to hold off the attacking visitors, reduced in the final stretch to another good option for Memphis before the break.
On the return, the scene of the game changed somewhat as Míchel’s team preferred to take a step back and cede more initiative to the visitors. They did not manage to take advantage of it too much in a second half, with more spaces than they might not take advantage of.
A very heeled volley from Llorente was the best in this start of the second act of the match, while the local response came from an individual play by Tsygankov that put Oblak’s gloves to the test. Simeone decided to move the game with a triple change and the entry of Morata, Correa and De Paul, but it did not work out too much for him.
The chances did not appear and the few that were clear came almost out of nowhere like that of David López, who forced Oblak into another good intervention to prevent the veteran central defender from surprising him from almost midfield. In the final give and take, Riquelme was close to executing ‘his’ team and Correa had a very clear avoidance due to a decisive cross from Arnau that corrected his mistake by leaving the ball free for the Argentine.
However, the subsequent corner kick ended with Morata’s goal following a tense and long wait from the VAR.
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— Atletico Madrid (@Atleti) March 13, 2023
Technical sheet of the match
Girona (0): Gazzaniga; Arnau, Bueno, David López, Miguel Gutiérrez; Borja García (Valery, m-64), Romeu (Iván Martín, m-75), Aleix García (Bernardo, m-87); Tsygankov (Villa, m-87), Castellanos (Stuani, m-75) and Riquelme.
Atletico Madrid (1): Oblak; Molina, Savic, Giménez, Hermoso, Carrasco (Saúl, m-77); Koke (Witsel, m-81), Llorente (De Paul, m-62), Lemar (Correa, m-62); Griezmann and Memphis (Morata, m-62).
Gol: 0-1, minute 94. Morata.
Referee: Melero López (C. Andalusian). He admonished Stuani (m-101), for Girona, and Llorente (m-57), Savic (m-66) and De Paul (m-98), for Atlético de Madrid.
Scenery: Montilivi Stadium.
Source Europa Press / photo Twitter
