(AFP) Substitute striker Alvaro Morata gave his team, Atletico Madrid, a fatal victory over Girona, 1-0, on Monday, at the end of the 25th stage of the Spanish Football League .
Morata, who entered as a substitute for Dutchman Memphis Depay in the 62nd minute, scored the winning goal after a corner kick from Frenchman Antoine Griezmann turned from Argentine Angel Correa and the Spanish international striker followed it with his left foot into the net (90 + 1).
The referee initially canceled the goal for offside Morata, but returned to the video assistant referee “VAR” to confirm the validity of Morata’s tenth goal this season in “La Liga”.
Atletico raised its score in third place to 48 points, 3 points ahead of Real Sociedad, which tied 1-1 against Mallorca on Sunday.
“Rojiblancos” went into the meeting, ecstatic from their great victory over Seville 6-1 9 days ago, and before that they drew in the Derby of the capital against arch-neighbor Real 1-1.
Likewise, the men of Argentine coach Diego Simone have not tasted defeat in “La Liga” since January 8, when he fell 1-0 to Barcelona.
For his part, Girona, supervised by coach Michel Sanish Munos, achieved two victories over Almeria 6-2 and Athletic Bilbao 3-2, before losing to Getafe 2-3 in the last stage, only to fall again this evening.
"Rojiblancos" waited until the 21st minute to threaten the host's goal after penetrating the penalty area, as the ball reached from Depay on the right side to Griezmann, to hit the latter from close range, which was blocked by Argentine goalkeeper Paulo Gasaniga.
The Belgian Yannick Carrasco hit a ground ball, which was blocked by the goalkeeper with both hands (26).
Slovenian Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak imposed himself as a star for the second half, after he first blocked a shot from midfield from David Lopes (69), and then another powerful shot from Rodrigo Riquelme with his left foot after a cross pass from Ukrainian Viktor Tsygankov (83), before he snatched Morata. Three point goal.