Heroic Defensive Display Earns Atletico All 3 Points Against Los Armeros
Atletico Madrid beat Eibar 1-0 at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium on Saturday evening in what was a forgettable fixture.
In a game of very few chances, Kevin Gameiro scored the only goal of the game early on to give his side all three points to bring Atletico closer to leaders Barcelona, with the gap only six points—albeit plus a game in hand for the Catalan side ahead of their game against Real Sociedad on Sunday.
The game began in a scrappy fashion with both sides failing to gain control of the match; with adverse conditions meaning that the chances for free-flowing football were few and far between. However, in the 26thminute the game had its first bit of action, and its first goal.
Atletico's Antoine Griezmann beat the offside trap, and with the goalkeeper baring down on him the Frenchman unselfishly squared the ball to his countryman Gameiro who side-footed the ball home from close range to make it 1-0.
The home side failed to create any chances in the first period, with their only two efforts of the first half both missing the target. Despite their team's poor performance in front of goal in the absence of the suspended Diego Costa, praise must be given to the Atleticodefense as they defended resolutely and never gave Los Armeros a sniff of a chance.
Eibar came out the better of the two in the second period, but still they couldn't register a shot on target. The home side had their first effort on the goal with 20 minutes of the second half gone, but unfortunately for Los Armeros it was a deflected header that didn't trouble Jan Oblak.
Atletico seemed content to hold onto their one-goal lead as they brought off Gameiro for midfielder Augusto Fernandez. Los Rojiblancos only had 35% possession in the second half, and for the most part they weren't threatened—which really speaks volumes about the defensive power that they possess.
Takashi Inui was Eibar's best player on the day, and he tested Oblak late on, however the Slovenian once denied the home side with a diving save. Atletico held out after a late onslaught from the home side and left the Ipurua Municipal Stadium with all three points.
