Atletico Madrid 2-0 Elche: Joao Felix, Alvaro Morata score for Diego Simeone’s side in La Liga win

Atletico Madrid moved up to third in La Liga after beating rock-bottom Elche 2-0 in their first game after the 2022 World Cup.

Atletico started the match very directly, looking to get the ball up the pitch quickly and into wide areas.

Diego Simeone’s side aimed to target Elche’s right side, getting to the byline to put crosses into the box, and their first real chance came in the 28th minute, Yannick Carrasco fired in a ball across the face of goal for Alvaro Morata who poked it just wide of the post.

The game struggled to get going with both sides turning over possession very cheaply. Both sides committed fouls frequently to stop the other side from gaining any real rhythm or momentum.

But Elche’s evening got a lot harder when Gonzalo Verdu was shown a straight red card on the stroke of half-time for pulling Morata down just outside the box. The referee initially waved away Morata’s appeals but was instructed by the VAR officials to take a second look.

Atletico started the second half much stronger, looking to exploit the space and get forward through Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix. They had a glorious chance to go 1-0 up on the 48th minute, Felix smartly back-heeled into the path of Greizmann who blazed his effort over.

Atletico didn’t have a man advantage for long as in the 50th minute Mario Hermoso was shown his second yellow card in the space of two minutes.

Diego Simeone’s side didn’t let going down to 10 men affect them however and just six minutes later they had their breakthrough. After seeing his first effort blocked, Antoine Griezmann intelligently clipped it back across goal for Felix to head home. Atletico then made it 2-0 on the 74th minute, Morata’s effort took a wicked deflection and looped up and into the back of the net.

Elche were reduced to nine men when Domingos Quina was shown his second yellow card in the space of four minutes after just eight minutes on the field.

TALKING POINT – CARDS, CARDS AND MORE CARDS

Seven yellow cards and three red cards tells the story of the match. The first red card of the evening came at the worst possible time for Elche, who had otherwise done well defensively up until that point. Verdu was dismissed in stoppage time in the first half, forcing Pablo Machin to change his side tactically in the second period.

Then, with Atletico fired up and well on top in the second half, they were also reduced to 10 men after Hermoso received two bookings in the space of three minutes. Simeone’s face was certainly a picture on the sideline. Then we saw another stoppage-time sending off, this time it was Elche’s Quina who, in Hermoso fashion, also received two yellow cards in quick succession and headed for a slightly earlier bath than the rest of the Elche players.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH – JOAO FELIX (ATLETICO MADRID)

The Portuguese attacker has been the subject of much transfer talk lately, with rumours emerging that he and manager Simeone do not see eye to eye. Tonight he simply let his football do the talking. He was everywhere, dropping deep to pick the ball up and drive his side forward, appearing in and around the box to link play together with neat back-heels and fancy flicks and also managed to grab the opening goal, receiving the ball in a poacher’s position to head home. If Griezmann kept his effort down, Felix would have had an assist to his name also. It was a shame that he was taken off as early as he was but Simeone will want to make sure he keeps Felix in tip-top shape for the upcoming games against Barcelona and Almeria.

PLAYER RATINGS

Atletico Madrid: Oblak 7, Savic 7, Gimenez 7, Hermoso 5, Kondogbia 7, Llorente 7, Barrios 7, Griezmann 8, Carrasco 7, Felix 9, Morata 8

SUBS: Lemar 6, Reguilon 6, Koke 6, Niguez 6

Elche: Badia 6, Bigas 6, Verdu 5, Gonzalez 7, Clerc 6, Guti 6, Mascarell 7, Palacios 6, Milla 6, Boye 5, Marti 6

SUBS: Morente 6, Collado 6, Fidel 6, Ponce 6, Quina 3

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

28′ BIG CHANCE – Atletico are getting closer! Carrasco pulls it back for Morata at the front post who pokes it just wide of the bottom corner. That was a whisker wide from going in.

48′ HUGE CHANCE! – What a goal that would have been! Joao Felix back heels it into the path of Griezmann who blasts over from inside the box! That should have been 1-0. Simeone has his head in his hands.

53′ RED CARD – ATLETICO MADRID – Mario Hermoso is shown his second yellow card just two minutes after receiving his first!

56′ GOAL – ATLETICO MADRID – Joao Felix puts Atletico Madrid 1-0 up! A fantastic way to answer his critics. Griezmann clips it back across goal and Felix is on hand to head home.

61′ SAVED – Joao Felix is through on goal but his effort is saved well by the goalkeeper. Griezmann had peeled off on the left and wasn’t happy that he was ignored.

74′ GOAL – ATLETICO MADRID Just a minute or two after Elche nearly equalised, Atletico are 2-0 up! Alvaro Morata’s effort takes a wild deflection and bounces into the back of the net!

90′ RED CARD – ELCHE Another red card for Elche! Domingos Quina receives his second yellow card for bringing Alvaro Morata down.

KEY STAT

Atlético de Madrid’s Joao Félix has scored in each of his last three appearances in LaLiga (four goals on aggregate), his longest run scoring in the competition. (Via OptaJose).