Match attendance: 15,321
Who Was Man Of The Match? Yannick Carrassco
Atletico Madrid’s defence of the La Liga title has started exactly the way Diego Simeone hoped for. They snatched the three points away from La Liga’s bottom half side Espanyol with a last gasp goal from Thomas Lemar set up by Yannick Carrasco, our man of the match today.
Atletico always seems to struggle against Espanyol in the RCDE Stadium. This is their 1st win in 4 years.
Espanyol started the game on the front foot. They created better chances in the first half, and they deserved the halftime lead. It was their 1st goal after being promoted to La Liga.
Diego Simeone made a string of chances at halftime both in terms of personal and the system. One of the players brought on, Thomas Lemar, scored a goal straight after the break only to be ruled out by VAR for offside given against Luis Suarez who didn’t touch the ball but was judged to be interfering with the play.
Atletico attacked predominantly from the left flank, and the equalizer came late in the 79th minute. Yannick Carrasco showed great desire to win the ball back in the opposition box and drilled the ball past Diego Lopez with a left-footed finish.
The referee added 10 minutes of extra, which is highly unusual in football games. Atletico capitalized with Thomas Lemar scoring the winner in the 98th minute, saving the day for the champions.
Lets check out Carrasco’s stats:
Carrasco’s Match Overview:
Rating: 7.99
Minutes played: 90
Pass accuracy %: 79.4
Goal contribution: 1 goal, 1 assist
Shots (on target): 4(1)
Dribbles: 6
Touches: 73
Crosses (accurate crosses): 1(0)
Key Passes: 1
Tackles: 1
Interceptions: 2
Raul de Tomas, who was the top scorer for Espanyol last season, got the wrong side of the defender and scored a glancing header from the corner just before halftime. He was dominant in the air and was involved in most of their attacks. He remains the key part for Espanyol if they are to stay up this season.
Raul’s match Overview:
Rating: 8.32
Minutes played: 82
Pass accuracy %: 81
Goal contribution: 1 goal
Shots (on target): 1(1)
Dribbles: 3
Touches: 42
Aerial duels won: 2
Tackles: 3
Interceptions: 2
Clearances: 2
MyMOTM 