MADRID: A second-half double from Antoine Griezmann earned Atletico Madrid a stunning 4-3 comeback home win over Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday, as the hosts claimed their ninth straight win in all competitions.

Atletico made a dominant start at home, with Griezmann hitting the crossbar before Rodrigo De Paul opened the scoring in the 10th minute, hammering a rocket from the edge of the box and into the top corner.

Sevilla’s Dodi Lukebakio equalised just two minutes later with a powerful low strike following a corner before Isaac Romero put them ahead after a quick counter-attack in the 32nd minute, shooting across goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who could only get a finger to the ball.

Atletico thought they had levelled the score just before halftime when Julian Alvarez put the ball in the net from a De Paul pass, but the VAR disallowed the Argentine striker’s goal for an offside in the build-up.

Juanlu Sanchez then extended the visitors’ advantage in the 57th minute with a close-range finish off Kike Salas’s second assist of the game before Griezmann pulled one back for Atletico five minutes later.

Substitute Samuel Lino struck from long range to beat Sevilla keeper Alvaro Fernandez, who had pulled off some key saves but could not prevent the Brazilian’s first goal of the season.

Griezmann found the net again four minutes into stoppage time to seal the victory that left Diego Simeone’s side third in the standings with 35 points, one behind Real Madrid and three shy of leaders Barcelona.

Despite Atletico’s fine form, Simeone remained cautious and said his team will face more challenges during a very long season.

“In a long season, with so many games, with LaLiga, Champions League, Copa del Rey, Club World Cup, there are many games and obviously we are going to have to go through different stages,” he said.

“The most important thing is to be strong and to make sure that these situations do as little damage as possible.”

Sevilla, who came close to their first win away to Atletico since 2008, remain 13th on 19 points.

Earlier, Athletic Bilbao tightened their hold on fourth place with a 2-0 victory over Villarreal, fifth.

Aitor Paredes and Inaki Williams struck to help the Basques move six points clear of their opponents, who have played two fewer games.

Bilbao have won four consecutive games in the top flight, including beating champions Real on Wednesday, and are aiming for Champions League qualification next season.

“We’re establishing ourselves in fourth, which is what we wanted,” said Williams. “I think we competed really well, when you’re in form, you have to surf the wave.”

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2024