A strike from Filipe Luís and a brace from in-form Antoine Griezmann secured the three points for Atlético Madrid, who continue their run in first place.
Atléti kept up their fine form with nine wins in their last 10 league games, as Diego Simeone’s men sealed victory following Luís’ opening goal which was followed by Griezmann firing home a double, recording his 18th goal for the team in all competitions and more importantly, keeping Los Rojiblancos in first place.
While the scoreline suggests a straight forward victory for Atléti, the home side put on a spirited performance that required Jan Oblak to make crucial saves in the opening periods to keep the proceedings deadlocked.
Las Palmas, who have started picking vital points to move themselves away from the relegation zone, started brightly with Tana’s right-footed shot having to be smartly saved by the impressive Oblak. The young custodian was yet again called into action immediately with Dani Castellano firing a drilled low shot outside the box, however, Oblak was quick to deny Las Palmas a surprising lead.
Quique Setien’s men would rue their opening dominance, as within minutes it was the away side that got an unlikely advantage. Juanfran made a delightful cross into the box that found Luís unmarked, with the Brazilian then smashing the ball past Javi Varas.
The goal would not derail Las Palmas’ from creating chances and they continued to threaten Atléti with shots from outside the box. Jonathan Viera created enough space to try curling his effort to the top right-corner, yet his effort had a little too much power and went over the cross bar. A wonderful play then saw David García perfect cross find Castellano, who controlled the ball before firing a shot destined high in the top corner that was brilliantly denied by sharp reactions from Oblak.
A halftime speech from Simeone must have woken his side as soon after the restart, the visitors began to threaten. Luciano Vietto, who continues his run in the starting XI, reached high to head Saúl Ñíguez’ cross, however, was just over. Moments later Griezmann was through following a wonderful through ball from Vietto, but Varas was quick off his line to deny a second goal.
Another great play from Las Palmas would see Roque latch onto a Willian José header and fire a volley towards goal, but he was unable to direct it to the bottom-corner. Again this missed opportunity will leave regrets for the home side, as immediately after Koke would place a through ball for Griezmann who made no mistake this time in beating Varas.
Tana and Roque would each have a chance to get their side back into the game, though both efforts were off target and narrowly above the cross bar. The result was sealed in the dying minutes of the 90, Koke again finding Griezmann who scored again to add to his tally of 12 league goals.
The loss sees Las Palmas remain two points above the bottom three, yet they will feel hard done by following a spirited performance against the league leaders. Atléti, on the other hand, see this victory continue their fine run of form, now two points ahead of second place Barcelona.
Griezmann on fire
It was an important double by the Frenchman, with this fixture a must win for Simeone’s men. Griezmann has been in sensational form since Decemeber and it is to no surprise the rest of Europe has been paying attention, with European giants Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain all reportedly interested in luring him away from Madrid. Having scored 18 goals in all competitions, Griezmann is already on his way of improving his scoring total of last season with still a little less than half the campaign to go. If the Frenchman can continue his fine run of form, Simeone’s men have a great chance to see themselves lift silverware come the end.
9 – No player has scored more braces in La Liga than Griezmann since he joined Atlético last season (9, equal now to Messi). Monsieur
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 17, 2016
Vietto and Griezmann partnership flourishing
With Jackson Martínez failing to cement a place in the starting XI due to poor performances and injury, Vietto has had the opportunity to lead the line alongside in-form striker Griezmann in recent weeks. Simeone again gave another opportunity for the young partnership of Vietto and Griezmann and the result was again fruitful, both linking up well together at times.
Vietto was unlucky to not see an assist to his name following a great through ball that Griezmann was unable to place into the back of the net. With their understanding of each other’s runs looking spot on, Simeone may have finally found his solution to his strikers’ inefficiency that has been highlighted this campaign.
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Koke better suited to the centre
Whilst the acclaim for winning the match would go to Griezmann for scoring a double, it was the impact made by Koke, as he moved into the centre following the introduction of natural left winger Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, which made the difference. The Spanish international twice assisted the Frenchman with an accurate through ball that showcases the vision of the midfielder to find Griezmann in space. With Tiago out injured, Gabi has regularly been partnered with new signing Augusto Fernández or Saúl, however, Koke has again shown that in his favoured position, the Spaniard has the ability to create the difference and provide opportunities for his teammates to score.
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