Espanyol inflict first defeat on Atletico in La Liga

Forward Sergio Garcia's 88th-minute goal helped Espanyol defeat Atletico Madrid 1-0, thereby inflicting the capital club's first defeat in the La Liga football season and ending their 20-match unbeaten run in the Spanish league.

Espanyol, coached by Quique Sanchez Flores, on Friday resisted intimidation in the situation and kept searching for that goal until they found it shortly before full-time, reports Efe.

The Catalan team can now breathe easy after a poor December which had earlier seen them lose two matches and draw against bottom-placed side Las Palmas, while Diego Simeone-coached Atletico pause to regroup.

The match started amidst nerves and controversy, as the home team claimed that left-back Filipe Luis had handled the ball after six minutes of play.

Going ahead, the hosts put on a show that was aggressive and intense, while Atletico persisted with their signature style of play.

In the first 15 minutes of the game, there were no clear advances towards the goal by either team, but with the clock at the 18-minute mark, Espanyol's Leo Baptistao found himself alone in front of goalkeeper Jan Oblak, only for his lob to go excessively wide off the mark.

From this moment onward, Espanyol fine tuned their attack and Gerard Moreno was particularly impressive, while Atletico struggled to reach their opponent's half.

In the 40th minute of play, Atletico claimed a penalty after striker Antoine Griezmann had fallen in the area, but the referee saw no contact with goalkeeper Pau Lopez and the score was 0-0 at half-time.

After the match resumed, Simeone's team continued to fail making clear approaches toward the goal and the initiative was taken by Espanyol, although they found no success.

At the 63rd minute mark, Simeone substituted Thomas Partey with Angel Correa to boost his team's attack, while at that point Quique did not want to change the lineup.

With the clock reading 69 minutes, the referee disallowed a goal by Atletico's defender Diego Godin after he had pushed an opponent on his way to scoring with a header.

Kevin Gameiro had a golden opportunity after 76 minutes, as only Pau Lopez was in front, but his shot was safely caught by the goalkeeper.

In the last 15 minutes, the proportion of inaccuracy increased until Garcia scored off Esteban Granero's cross in the 88th minute and sealed the game.

--IANS

pur/vm