Diego Simeone’s 700th game in charge of Atlético Madrid ended in a late 2-1 win over Deportivo Alaves in LaLiga after Alexander Sørloth rescued the home side with an 86th-minute winner at the Metropolitano Stadium on Saturday.
Alaves took an early lead from the penalty spot but Antoine Griezmann equalised in the 76th minute with a spot kick of their own before second-half substitute Sørloth bagged his fifth goal of the season to seal all three points.
Atlético provisionally moved up to second in LaLiga, four points behind leaders Barcelona who have two games in hand, while Alaves dropped to 16th.
“It’s an incredible amount, 700 games. Congratulations to him. The result is for him and the supporters,” Simeone’ son Giuliano, who livened things up in the second half and earned the man-of-the-match award, said.
“Alaves came here to compete and they fought hard, they made it difficult for us. That’s the way they are, that’s how they always play.
“I’m happy for what I was able to do when I came on but what’s more important is that we won the game.”
Atlético found themselves on the backfoot in the seventh minute when Javi Galan conceded a penalty with a handball when he had his arm raised to block a cross and Jon Guridi made no mistake from the spot when he sent Jan Oblak the wrong way.
The Metropolitano crowd fell silent after going 1-0 down but they found their voice when Griezmann set up Samuel Lino, who saw his shot smash into the crossbar before the visitors cleared the ball.
As Alaves stood firm in defence, a few boos and whistles could be heard as Atletico failed to make better use of their possession and played wasteful passes in the final third while Antonio Sivera was alert to danger and made several saves.
Simeone made two halftime substitutions with Giuliano and Sorloth coming on while Julian Alvarez was introduced at the hour mark, but Alaves’ disciplined defence kept the home side at bay.
Giuliano galvanised their attack and he seemed to be everywhere, popping up on both flanks, and he nearly scored an equaliser from a counter-attack when he raced through on goal, only to see his shot saved by the outstretched leg of Sivera.
Atletico received a lifeline in the 74th minute when Sorloth’s header hit the arm of defender Abdel Abqar to earn a penalty and although Sivera dived in the right direction, Griezmann’s spot kick found the back of the net.
With a draw on the cards, Rodrigo De Paul spotted Sørloth making a run in behind and the Norwegian’s thunderous strike squeezed in at the near post to give Atlético the win.
“We’re very sad, we played very well in the first half and started well in the second. We knew we’d be under constant pressure and the penalty hurt us,” Alaves defender Nahuel Tenaglia said.
“We just have to turn the page and put this result behind us.”
