MADRID: Atletico Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw on Saturday by La Liga’s second-from-bottom side Getafe, who cancelled out Angel Correa’s goal on the hour with a thunderous Enes Unal penalty late on.

Earlier, bottom side Elche stunned Villarreal 3-1, winning their first game all season.

It was another disappointing result for Atletico in a difficult season. After finishing last in their Champions League group and being knocked out of the Copa del Rey by rivals Real Madrid last week, Atletico are struggling to secure one of the league’s four spots in Europe’s top competition next season.

They are fourth in the La Liga standings on 35 points, four behind third-placed Real Sociedad and 15 back from leaders Barcelona. In the relegation zone, Getafe are 19th on 18 points.

Atletico had more than 60% possession and started pressing their rivals in the first minutes of the game. They clamoured for a penalty early in the first half when defender Djene Dakonam, who had already been booked, held Alvaro Morata inside the box. But the referee decided the contact was not enough to be seen as an infringement.

Morata had a goal ruled out for offside a little later and Correa missed a sitter from close-range half an hour into the match.

Atletico missed several other chances to take an early lead, eventually scoring in the 60th minute when Correa fired in from a rebound.

The shot was initially ruled out by the assistant referee who thought the Argentinian was offside, but a VAR review overturned that decision and gave Atletico the goal.

But Getafe secured a precious point away from home in the 83rd minute after the referee spotted a handball by Saul Niguez inside the box. Unal stepped up and blasted in the resulting penalty, scoring with the visitors’ only shot on target in the match.

Atletico made a late push for the win but kept missing chances and were left frustrated in a game they probably should have won.

Despite the loss, Atletico are still four points ahead of Villarreal, who are provisionally fifth and are chasing Champions League qualification but were sunk by a Pere Milla hat-trick at the Manuel Martinez Valero Stadium.

Elche did not manage a win in the first half of the season but finally triumphed in their 20th game, with Milla firing home in the third minute to open the scoring.

Gerard Moreno levelled but Elche moved ahead in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Milla converted a penalty after Jorge Cuenca brought down Ezequiel Ponce to restore the advantage for Pablo Machin’s side.

The forward then netted again from the spot after he had been fouled in the second half to seal his team’s win, although he was taken off injured before the hour mark.

Elche, on nine points, are 11 from safety and have played a game more than Valladolid, 17th.

Real Betis, sixth, also could not take advantage of Villarreal’s defeat as they fell 4-3 at home against Celta Vigo in a thrilling clash.

Gabri Veiga hit two for the visitors as he continued an excellent season individually, with the victory helping Celta climb provisionally 11th, four points above the drop zone.Espanyol shared a 1-1 draw with Osasuna, Martin Braithwaite equalising for the hosts after Ante Bud­imir’s opener.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2023