La Liga: Atletico Madrid beat Villarreal, stays 5 factors forward of Real Madrid

Image Source : AP Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix (in blue) scores in opposition to Villarreal in Villarreal on Sunday night time.
Atlético Madrid acquired again to profitable on Sunday, beating Villarreal 2-0 to halt its stoop and restore a five-point lead on the high of the Spanish league.
An own-goal by Alfonso Pedraza within the first half and a objective by ahead João Félix within the second helped Atlético finish a three-game winless streak and rebuild its lead over second-place Barcelona, which gained 2-0 at fourth-place Sevilla on Saturday. Atlético has a sport in hand in comparison with the Catalan membership.

Third-place Real Madrid can get again to inside three factors of Atlético on Monday with a win in opposition to fifth-place Real Sociedad at residence. Madrid can have performed yet another sport greater than Atlético.
Atlético hosts Madrid within the metropolis derby subsequent Sunday.
Diego Simeone’s staff was coming off a 1-0 loss to Chelsea within the first leg of the spherical of 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday. It additionally misplaced 2-0 to Levante at residence within the Spanish league, and had beforehand drawn with Levante in a league match postponed from the second spherical due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a very important victory,” Atlético defender Stefan Savic mentioned. “We were coming off a bad streak of results and the team responded well. That’s what makes me happy.”
It was Atlético’s first clear sheet after eight matches, which had marked the staff’s worst streak conceding targets since Simeone arrived in late 2011.
Unai Emery’s Villarreal, winless in six consecutive Spanish league video games, dropped to seventh place.

Atlético went forward within the twenty fifth minute after Savic’s header was saved by Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo however the ball ricocheted off Pedraza and went in. The objective was initially disallowed for offside however later confirmed by video overview.
Félix, who not too long ago was sidelined for testing optimistic for COVID-19, scored his first objective since January with a low shot from inside the realm within the 69th. The Portugal ahead, who got here off the bench after halftime, celebrated profusely and put a finger to his mouth, as if asking somebody to be quiet. It wasn’t clear to whom he was sending a message.
MURILLO SCORES LATE
Colombian defender Jeison Murillo scored within the closing minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Celta Vigo in opposition to relegation-threatened Valladolid.
Murillo netted the equalizer with a header from a set piece taken by Iago Aspas within the fourth minute of added time. Fabián Orellana had opened the scoring for the hosts within the seventieth.
The consequence prolonged Valladolid’s winless streak within the league to eight matches. The staff owned by former Brazil nice Ronaldo stayed simply outdoors the relegation zone with 22 factors from 25 matches.
Celta, which has one win in its final 10 matches in all competitions, was in eleventh place with 30 factors from 25.
OTHER RESULTS
Eighth-place Granada ended a six-match winless streak by beating second-to-last-place Elche 2-1 at residence.
Earlier, Juanmi Jiménez scored within the 84th as Real Betis gained 1-0 at Cádiz. It was the third win in a row for Betis, which moved to sixth.
Cádiz, winless in seven consecutive league video games, is three factors from the relegation zone.