WATCH: Griezmann Follows Hat Trick With Four Goals in Atletico's Rout of Leganes
Four goals from Antoine Griezmann meant Atletico Madrid temporarily cut the deficit from Barcelona at the top of La Liga to four points after a convincing 4-0 win over Leganes at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Diego Simeone made two changes to the side that beat Sevilla 5-2 in their previous La Liga outing. Out went Sime Vrsaljko and Gabi whilst in came Juanfran and Angel Correa.
As for the visitors, they made five changes to the side that drew 0-0 to Las Palmas on Saturday. Out went Joseba Zaldua, Dimitrios Siovas, Ruben Perez, Nabil El Zhar and Nordin Amrabat, while in came Ezequiel Munoz, Martin Mantovani, Raul Garcia, Gerard Gumbau and Miguel Angel Guerrero.
Atletico were unbeaten in their previous 14 La Liga home games heading into the contest and made the better start to the game, dominating the early possession with early efforts from Diego Costa and Koke failing to challenge Ivan Cuellar in the visiting goal.
The first real opportunity of the game fell to Griezmann, who came into the game having scored a hat trick in Atleti's 5-2 win over Sevilla, just shy of the 20 minute mark from a free kick on the edge of the area. He managed to get the ball up and over the wall, however saw his effort cannon off the edge of the crossbar as Leganes managed to clear the danger.
Just minutes after Atletico struck the crossbar, the visitors did just that. Against the run of play, Gambau struck a hopeful shot from the edge of the box which crashed off the crossbar with Jan Oblak seemingly beaten. Felipe Luis was able to clear the rebounded effort off the line as the home side survived a scare from the visitors.
Unfortunately for Leganes, their stern defense was soon breached. Koke fed a lovely ball through the defensive line and into the path of Griezmann who kept his composure and slid the ball beyond the keeper to give Atletico a well deserved lead midway through the first half.
Nearly 10 minutes later it was 2-0, thanks to another moment of brilliance from the Frenchman. From a free kick in a similar position to the one Griezmann had previously hit the crossbar from, he struck the ball around the wall which had too much power for Cuellar to get a hand on. The ball lashed into the back of the net to double the host's lead.
Madrid were enjoying themselves, and their star number seven could've had a first half hat-trick just moments later. A neat combination of passes between himself and Diego Costa saw Griezmann through on goal, however couldn't beat the on-rushing Cuellar who managed to get his body in the way of his effort.
The second half began just how the first did, with Madrid in the ascendancy. Just 10 minutes after the restart, Griezmann secured his second hat trick in two games through some brilliant play from the hosts. Luis found himself in acres of space on the left hand side and put an inch-perfect ball into the box where Griezmann was able to head beyond the keeper to make it 3-0.
To the frustration of Leganes, Griezmann wasn't done there. Costa was played through down the left hand side and put an inviting ball into the box, a ball which the Frenchman found himself under. His first time volley wrong-footed the goalkeeper and found the bottom corner of the net to get his fourth goal of the game.
After supplying Griezmann just minutes before, Costa almost found himself on the scoresheet after he was played through on goal. He was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, however Cuellar was somehow able to tip the Spaniard's effort over the top of the crossbar.
Much to the delight of the Leganes fans, Griezmann's night ended when he was replaced by Kevin Gameiro after 73 minutes, but unfortunately for them the damage had already been done. Atletico were able to comfortably see the rest of the game out and secured an emphatic win, extending their unbeaten home run in La Liga to 15 games.
The win now takes Atletico 10 points ahead of city rivals Real Madrid and temporarily closes the gap between Barcelona at the top of La Liga and themselves to just four points. As for Leganes, they remain in 14th place, however could drop down to 16th should Real Sociedad and Deportivo Alaves win their games in hand.
