Atletico Madrid defeated 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 in a tense La Liga derby on Sunday, moving to second place and leaving their city rivals six points behind leaders Barcelona.
Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half before Alejandro Grimaldo converted a penalty and Jonathan David added a second for Atletico. Antonio Rudiger pulled one back late for Real Madrid, but Diego Simeone’s side held on for the victory.
The result moved Atletico to within five points of Barcelona and one point ahead of Real Madrid, who suffered their second defeat of the season.
The turning point came shortly after half-time when Huijsen brought down Giuliano Simeone as the Atletico forward raced through on goal. Following a VAR review, the referee showed Huijsen a red card and awarded Atletico a penalty.
Grimaldo stepped up and sent Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois the wrong way to give Atletico the lead.
Real Madrid had been unhappy with several challenges in the first half, with manager Jose Mourinho arguing that Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in should also have been sent off.
“They were two clear red cards,” Mourinho said. “The difficulty we had after Huijsen’s red with 11 against 10 — imagine 50 minutes with 11 against nine.”
“There are no miracles in football. Eleven against nine, we can imagine how that would have finished,” he added.
The first half had been a tense and scrappy affair, with neither side able to create many clear-cut opportunities despite the wealth of attacking talent on the pitch.
The main talking point came when Jude Bellingham was initially booked after a challenge involving Romero. However, following a VAR review, the referee overturned Bellingham’s yellow card and instead cautioned the Atletico defender after determining that Romero had stepped on the England midfielder’s leg.
Real Madrid were also unhappy with a heavy challenge by Lee on Federico Valverde shortly before half-time.
Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Bellingham were largely kept quiet as Atletico’s disciplined defending frustrated the visitors.
The game came to life after the break following Huijsen’s dismissal.
Mourinho responded by substituting Vinicius and Arda Guler, bringing on club-record signing Yan Diomande and Rudiger.
Atletico doubled their advantage in the 59th minute when Canada international Jonathan David finished Giuliano Simeone’s low cross for his third goal in as many matches.
The hosts almost added a third soon after, but Courtois produced an excellent save to deny Julian Alvarez, while Ibrahima Konate cleared Grimaldo’s follow-up effort off the line.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak then denied Diomande and Bellingham, with Real Madrid growing increasingly frustrated as they struggled to find a way back into the match.
The visitors eventually reduced the deficit when Rudiger headed Bernardo Silva’s cross past Oblak in the closing stages.
However, Atletico held on to claim all three points and complete a significant derby victory.
“It wasn’t a clean sheet, which is a shame. We had quite a good game but we left them a chance,” Oblak said.
“It was important to win, but La Liga is very long.”
Atletico midfielder Koke said the victory showed that his team can compete for major honours.
“We can compete against every team if we give 100 percent,” he said. “Real Madrid are one of the best in the world and today we showed that.”
AFP
