Atletico Madrid followed up its surprise win over Liverpool by beating Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday as Joao Felix marked his return from injury with a first league goal since September.
Felix came off the bench at the Wanda Metropolitano after almost a month out with an ankle problem and the 20-year-old looked refreshed as he drove in Atletico’s third in an impressive 3-1 victory.
Kieran Trippier was also back after recovering from a groin injury and he was involved in Atletico’s second goal as Koke headed in.
Angel Correa had earlier cancelled out Paco Alcacer’s strike for Villarreal.
Atletico’s inconsistency this season means it is out of the title race, 12 points adrift of leader Barcelona, which thrashed Eibar 5-0 on Saturday. But momentum would be timely as Atletico bid to consolidate its place in the top four and capitalise on its 1-0 advantage against Liverpool next month in the Champions League last 16.
Diego Simeone’s side moves up to third in La Liga, level on points with Sevilla, which earlier struck a superb 3-0 win away at fellow top-four rival Getafe.
Diego Costa came off the bench on Tuesday, although he was not involved against Villarreal, while Felix, Trippier and Morata are all fit again and available.
Felix’s recovery will be particularly welcome.
Revitalised
He looked revitalised after coming on as a substitute and could prove a valuable addition during the run-in.
Alcacer, who joined Villarreal from Borussia Dortmund last month, gave the away side the lead with a brilliant shot from the edge of the box in the 16th minute but Correa levelled before half-time, flicking in after a mistake by Raul Albiol.
Koke completed the turnaround in the 64th minute, heading in Correa’s chip after Trippier had cut it back to the Argentine. Felix then added a third with a driven shot, which squirmed through Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo.
Sevilla delivered a huge boost to its own hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League by beating Getafe for its first victory in six matches.
A poor run of form had threatened to kill Sevilla’s chances of securing a place in Europe’s premier tournament but it dismantled usually solid Getafe with goals from Lucas Ocampos, Fernando Reges and Jules Kounde.
The results :
Premier League : Arsenal 3 (Nketiah 27, Aubameyang 33, 46) bt Everton 2 (Calvert-Lewin 1, Richarlison 45+4).
La Liga : Real Valladolid 2 (Ramirez 77, Guardiola 83) bt Espanyol 1 (Embarba 90+3-pen); Getafe 0 lost to Sevilla 3 (Ocampos 43, Fernando 67, Kounde 75); Atletico Madrid 3 (Correa 40, Koke 64, Felix 74) bt Villarreal 1 (Paco Alcacer 16).
Serie A : Roma 4 (Under 13, Mkhitaryan 37, Dzeko 69, Kolarov 80) bt Lecce 0; Inter Milan vs Sampdoria, Atalanta vs Sassuolo, Hellas Verona vs Cagliari and Torino vs Parma all postponed because of coronavirus outbreak.
Bundesliga : Bayer Leverkusen 2 (Diaby 25, Amiri 59) bt Augsburg 0; VfL Wolfsburg 4 (Brekalo 21, Steffen 45, 68, Gerhardt 49) bt Mainz 0 .
