Diego Simeone Says Atletico Madrid 'Will Fight Until the End' Following Late Win Over Eibar

Atletico Madrid left it late to win on Saturday afternoon as a 85th minute strike from substitute Thomas Lemar was enough to see off a disappointed Eibar at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium.

Both teams had plenty of chances to score, yet Eibar's inability to hit the target, and a fantastic goalkeeping display from the home side's stopper Marko Dmitrovic kept the scores level until Lemar appeared at the far post to steer in a Koke cross.

The win left Diego Simeone's side seven points ahead of city rivals Real Madrid with Los Blancos playing on Sunday.

The Argentine boss, in a post match interview (via Daily Mail), stressed the importance of the victory, saying: "This is a very important win for us.

"In the first half we thought we could cause them more damage by playing a short passing game and in the second half things were more even and it became clear whoever scored first would win the game. Luckily it was us."

In an interview on Atletico Madrid's website, Simeone suggested his side struggled after the break, which prompted the Rojiblancos boss to introduce Lemar from the bench, which worked a treat as the Frenchman found the net in the 85th minute. 

The Atletico Madrid manager said: "We started the game better and then they improved and were comfortable until the break. The second half was the opposite. We moved players around to see how we could hurt them with Lemar, Koke, Thomas. In a good play we managed to find the goal through Lemar, which will be good for him."