MADRID, Sep 25: Atletico Madrid happily made sure Real Madrid was not perfect anymore.
Atletico ended its rival’s perfect start Sunday with a 3-1 win in their first Spanish league derby of the season.
Alvaro Morata scored twice and Antoine Griezmann once to hand Madrid its first loss after six straight victories in all competitions this season. Toni Kroos scored the lone goal for the visitors.
The result left Catalan clubs Barcelona and Girona at the top of the standings with 16 points each from six matches.
Defending champion Barcelona rallied late to defeat Celta Vigo 3-2 on Saturday, while Girona beat Mallorca 5-3.
Madrid stayed one point behind in third place.
Atletico, sitting fifth with 10 points, was coming off a 3-0 loss at Valencia for its first defeat of the season.
“We played a great match,” Simeone said. “The team recovered its spirit and, when that happens, it doesn’t matter the rival.”
All three goals by Atletico on Sunday at Metropolitano stadium came from headers. Morata scored in the fourth and 46th minutes, while Griezmann got on the board in the 18th.
Madrid’s goal came in the 35th after Kroos cleared a defender before finding the net from outside the area.
Madrid had a goal disallowed for offside in the 44th.
“We didn’t get off to a good start, didn’t defend well,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “And with 2-0 they took control, defending well and taking advantage of quick transitions.
They were better than us in that aspect.”
Ancelotti couldn’t count on Vinícius Júnior, who was set to return from injury but was dropped from the squad at the last minute because of a stomach illness.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico dominated proceedings for most of the match and spent the final minutes of the game passing the ball sideways to each other as their delirious fans chanted “Ole, ole, ole” in a thunderous show of support
After Morata had scored the opener, his team mate Jose Maria Gimenez wasted a golden opportunity in the 10th minute, missing a close-range header from a corner kick sent in by Griezmann, who himself headed in the second goal eight minutes later.
Midfielder Eduardo Camavinga had Real’s first chance in the 30th minute, with a curling shot from range that was deflected to a corner.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak denied a Federico Valverde first-touch strike from the corner and started off a quick counter-attack that almost ended with Atletico’s third, with goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga making a brilliant one-handed save of a Saul strike.
Real’s Kroos then made it 2-1 before Camavinga had a goal ruled out just before the break for offside in the build-up.
Real struggled to create any more chances after Morata’s second goal in the opening moments of the second half.
Other results
Real Sociedad beat Getafe 4-3 at home with Japanese forward Takefusa Kubo scoring the opening goal for the hosts two minutes into the match, and Villarreal drew 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano with the teams scoring the goals a minute apart early in the first half.
Also Sunday, 10-man Las Palmas picked up its first win by defeating visiting Granada 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal by Kirian Rodriguez, Betis drew 1-1 with Cadiz. (AP)
