Atletico Madrid 4-1 Celta Vigo: Spanish giants climb to fourth in LaLiga as Unai Nunez’s late own goal seals the win following strikes from Angel Correa, Rodrigo de Paul and Yannick Carrasco
- Atletico Madrid thrashed Celta Vigo 4-1 in LaLiga to climb to fourth in the table
- Angel Correa, Rodrigo de Paul and Yannick Carrasco were on target for Atletico
- Gabriel Veiga clawed one back for Celta but Unai Nunez’s own goal made it 4-1
- Antoine Griezmann came on in the 63rd minute for his fifth LaLiga game in a row
- Diego Simeone’s side made it back-to-back wins after beating Porto in midweek
Antoine Griezmann came on at minute 63 for the fifth consecutive La Liga game and for once Atletico Madrid did not need him to pick up a win.
Griezmann is at the centre of a bitter feud between his current team and parent club Barcelona who could end up in court over a differing interpretations of his contract.
Atletico don’t want to be forced to buy the Frenchman at the end of this season and understand that unless he plays more than 45 minutes in at least 14 games they will not have to.
Free-scoring Atletico Madrid thrashed Celta Vigo 4-1 in LaLiga to climb to fourth in the league
Angel Correa opened the scoring in the ninth minute to set the tone for Diego Simeone’s side
Barcelona are insisting that the agreement was for last season when he played 80 percent of minutes and were therefore obliged to have paid 40m euros last summer.
On he came just after the hour mark but the scorer of three goals from the bench this season this time did not score as his team-mates got the win for Atletico.
They took the lead on nine minutes when Thomas Lemar spread a superb crossfield pass to Nahuel Molina and he helped it on to Rodrigo de Paul whose cross was converted by Angel Correa.
Fellow Argentine Rodrigo de Paul made it two after the break thanks to a deflected long-shot
Yannick Carrasco scored the third after his slaloming run dazzled Celta’s defenders in the box
De Paul doubled the lead from Koke’s pass on 50 minutes when his deflected shot putting more between the two teams.
Yannick Carrasco scored a spectacular third with a run and shot at the end of a fine counter attack but Celta Vigo would not go quietly.
Gabriel Veiga pulled a goal back for the visitors with a fine shot that beat Ivo Grbic at his near post. Standing in for the injured Jan Oblak he could do nothing about the well placed shot.
Unai Nunez deflected in Matheus Cunha’s cross to make it four and seal the victory for Atletico
Veiga’s first goal from Iago Aspas’ pass gave the visitors hope. Aspas had hit the post in the first half after Celta responded well to going behind.
But there was no late comeback. Joao Felix came on alongside Matheus Cunha and it was the Brazlian who got the fourth to end the game as a contest and move Atletico up to fourth in the table.
The hosts face Leverkusen next in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Celta prepare for a trip to Valencia next Saturday.
Sportsmail’s Ben Willcocks provided live blog updates for the LaLiga clash between Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo.
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