Atletico Madrid 2-1 Real Sociedad: Late Griezmann Strike Wins Thrilling Encounter for Atletico

Diego Simeone's men came into this encounter on a run of 13 games unbeaten, although they have not had the greatest campaign, thus far.

The game itself proved to be a rollercoaster ride as Simeone's men left it to the last few minutes of the game to snatch all three points and take advantage of the fact that league leaders Barcelona slipped up earlier in the day.

Atletico started the game pressing the back line of Real Sociedad with a great deal of pressure being imposed, subsequently causing the visitors to play much of the opening 10 minutes in their own half.

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Within the first ten minutes, Frenchman Antoine Griezmann found himself through on goal before pressure from the defence caused him to mis-control the ball, allowing trailing defenders to catch up.

As the game went on, Sociedad began to find their rhythm and created numerous chances which seemingly troubled the notorious back line of Atleti who could have found themselves a few goals down early on.

The first opportunity fell to Willian Jose who had the whole goal to aim for but ended up finding the stands instead.

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The second opportunity fell to Xabi Prieto who was denied by a great save from Oblak and clearance from Filipe Luis.

However, Real Sociedad broke the deadlock in the 28th minute, drawing first blood, when Jan Oblak brought down Mikel Oyarzabal in the the box, giving away a penalty. Willian Joseph stepped up and slotted home to give the visitors a one goal advantage.

The goal from Sociedad seemingly woke up Atleti who began to pile on the pressure as the half-time approached. Chances fell to Angel Correa who failed to convert on a couple of opportunities, after great saves from the Sociedad keeper seemingly leaving himself and his team-mates in frustration.

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Atleti looked to continue applying pressure as they came out for the second half and created numerous chances early into the period. The first five minutes of the half saw multiple chances go to waste as Correa's misfortune struck again missing a shot from a few yards out to the astonishment of team-mates and fans.

fans were not happy with the performance from the Argentinian but some were amused by his misfortune and took to Twitter to share with others, with one fan tweeting:

Atletico fans thought that they had drawn level when Griezmann struck the ball into the top right corner with a beautiful volley. However, the French forward seemed to be in an offside position when a ball was lofted into the box, so the linesman cancelled out the goal.

The inevitable equaliser eventually arrived for Atletico, when Saul went on a stellar solo run and lofted the ball into the back post to Filipe Luis who brought the ball down, placed it on his right foot and buried it into the far post with a strike that Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud of.

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In the 70th minute, Atletico fans were finally put out of their misery as Simeone signalled for a double substituion which saw fan favourite Fernando Torres come on for Kevin Gamierio but more importantly saw Angel Correa go off for Carrasco. 

After being kept quiet for the majority of the second half, a chance from a corner fell to David Zurutuza who failed to convert an open header into the top right of Oblak's goal.

The Red and White of Madrid had numerous chances to take the lead but failed to convert after Griezmann was denied by a great save by Rulli and sent another shot into the stands with a disappointing strike.

The game began to heat up in the last ten minutes and chances were flying in from both side but it was Atletico who eventually took the lead in the 87th minute when Koke flung a ball into the box which met the head of Saul who played the ball across the goal finally touched in by none other than Antoine Griezmann to capture all three points for Atleti.