Madrid, Dec 22 (IANS) Atletico Madrid ended the year as leader in La Liga after winning 2-1 away to FC Barcelona with virtually the last attack of the game.
Alexander Sorloth scored the winning goal for Atletico with a thumping left-foot finish in the sixth minute of injury time, after Atletico caught Barca flat-footed as the home side looked for the winning goal in a game it could have resolved long beforehand.
Pedri opened the scoring in the 30th minute after a run outside the Atletico area ended with Gavi giving him what looked like an accidental return pass to beat goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
In the second half, the midfielder set up Raphinha, who saw a lob hit the bar, just three minutes before Rodrigo De Paul levelled with his side’s first shot on target in the 60th minute.
Robert Lewandowski produced an incredible miss as the game heated up, moments before Inaki Pena stuck out a providential foot to deny Pablo Barrios at the other end.
Barca was pushing Atletico back, with coach Diego Simeone reverting to a five-man defence to try and keep Barca at bay, but it needed two brilliant saves from Oblak to deny Raphinha and Pedri to keep Atletico in the game before Sorloth stunned the home side.
The win enabled Atletico Madrid to overtake Barcelona on top of the standings with 41 points, three ahead of Barca with one game in hand.
Gorka Guruzeta and Alex Berenguer both scored as Athletic Bilbao fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 away to Osasuna to move to within just two points of Barca.
Lucas Torro put Osasuna ahead moments after the VAR ruled out a penalty for Athletic, but Guruzeta levelled with a powerful header soon afterwards, and former Osasuna winger Berenguer won the game with a first-time shot after the home defence made a mess of goalkeeper Unai Simon’s long clearance.
Pablo Duran scored twice in six minutes as Celta Vigo won 2-0 at home to Real Sociedad, with his first goal coming from a shot from outside the penalty area, while his second came after a pass from Borja Iglesias in first-half injury time.
Duran was denied a hat trick early in the second half after his effort was ruled out after a prior offside from Iglesias.
Cyle Larin scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute as Mallorca ended 2024 with a win that lifts it into the top six.
Getafe pressed for an equaliser after Larin’s goal but couldn’t find a way past Mallorca’s rock-solid defence.
Diego Cocca had a debut to forget at Valladolid as his struggling side was outplayed in a 3-0 defeat away to Girona.
David Lopez opened the scoring when he deflected Miguel Gutierrez’s free kick into the net after 31 minutes, and eight minutes later, Miguel crossed for Abel Ruiz to nod in the second for Girona, with Arnaut Danjuma finishing the scoring nine minutes from time.
–IANS
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