Atletico's title bid falters again with loss at Sevilla

Atletico still top the standings on 66 points but third-placed Barcelona can move within a point of them with a win at home to Real Valladolid on Monday.

April 05, 2021 03:34 am | Updated 03:34 am IST - SEVILLE

Sevilla recovered from missing an early penalty to beat La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid 1-0 at home on Sunday and hand a lifeline to title challengers Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Atletico's Jan Oblak saved a penalty for the second game in a row when he repelled Lucas Ocampos' spot-kick in the eighth minute while Sevilla's Joan Jordan hit the bar moments later in a rampant start by the hosts as the visitors looked rattled.

Sevilla finally found a breakthrough in the 70th minute when left back Marcos Acuna headed in a cross from fellow full back Jesus Navas and the referee ignored Atletico's claims that Ocampos handled the ball at the start of the move.

Atletico still top the standings on 66 points but third-placed Barcelona can move within a point of them with a win at home to Real Valladolid on Monday. Real Madrid are second on 63 after beating Eibar 2-0 at home on Saturday.

Atletico had only scraped a 1-0 win over struggling Alaves in their previous fixture thanks to a late penalty save from Oblak and they again failed to offer much in attack, barely threatening Bono's goal in the first half.

They carved out a clear chance moments after Acuna had broken the deadlock when Marcos Llorente got to the byline and found an unmarked Mario Hermoso, but the defender blazed well over the bar from inside the area.

Forward Angel Correa had another chance to level in the final minutes but saw his shot saved by Bono.

To make matters worse, Atletico's two top scorers - Luis Suarez and Llorente - both earned yellow cards which will see them suspended for next week's trip to Real Betis.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.