A headed goal by Serbian Matija Nastasic coming off a corner at the start of the second half (1-0) was the blow that ended in Leganés with an Atlético that looked invincible, victim of the sticks and a missed penalty by Antoine Griezmann in the final moments.
Raised to the top of the table and in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey as a result of a streak never before seen in the club of 15 consecutive victories, the red and white team visited an inferior rival in theory although indecipherable in practice, which In their last three home games they conceded eleven goals from Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Villarreal; but at the same time they had been able to beat Barcelona 0-1 at home.
It is therefore difficult to know in advance what to expect from the Leganense side, in terms of behavior on the field and drawing. The versatility of Seydouba Cissé and Renato Tapia at times made us think of a more offensive version with a 4-2-3-1, but it ended up being a 5-4-1 where the team almost completely renounced attacking. And that made Atlético feel very comfortable.
An initial scare at forty-five seconds, with a shot by Juan Cruz that narrowly missed, slightly upset the leader. But from that moment on he dominated as he pleased and did not obtain any major reward because of the sticks, as they crossed his path up to three times during the first half.
Julián Álvarez from the front, Griezmann with a shot in the small area and Conor Gallagher as the culmination of a strategic action that had been canceled in the first instance; They tasted the bitter taste of metal in three actions that were born on the right side of the attack, where the ‘Lega’ was bleeding, and that first passed through the boots of Giuliano Simeone.
The rest of the work that the posts did not solve for the host was carried out by the Serbian duo composed of goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, who made a couple of worthy interventions, and center back Matija Nastasic, who was instrumental in taking an attempt by Álvarez over the line .
Thus, the home team survived the pressure and stayed alive at half-time in a clash that could have already been doomed by that point. He even allowed himself the luxury of some loose but dangerous opportunities, a shot by Juan Cruz deflected by Oblak and a one-on-one by Miguel de la Fuente after an error by Robin Le Normand.
Leganés came out of the locker room with Darko Brasanac for Javi Hernández and, above all, with a different attitude. With the same push of the first minute of the confrontation, the home team managed to continue for a little longer. And with this, unexpectedly, he managed to put himself ahead.
He did it by giving Atleti a dose of strategic action, the same poison that served to knock down Barcelona weeks ago. If in Barcelona the one who headed into the net was Sergio González, this time that honor fell to defender Matija Nastasic, who did it with power after winning the position over Pablo Barrios.
A foul from the crescent that went wide gave the visitors the option to equalize immediately afterwards, an isolated hope for a team that had to recalculate the route to continue on its good path. The problem is that, going ahead, Leganés became steep terrain.
-The colchoneros lost a few minutes, which were taken advantage of by those in blue and white to try to do more damage, with a high shot from Juan Cruz being the most serious threat. And when they met again, there was still enough room to get something positive.
Ángel Correa gave the trumpet call with a cross shot with ten minutes remaining and from there, the siege returned. Adrián Niño with a low shot that Dmitrovic followed with his gaze without finding the goal, a disturbing cross from Rodrigo De Paul taken by the defense… and finally a penalty by Sergio González.
Melero López whistled it after a review and Griezmann threw it too wide to the desperation of an Atlético that now sees the leadership that had cost them so much to conquer in jeopardy and that will be Real Madrid’s if they win on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabéu against UD Las Palmas.
– Technical sheet:
1 – Leganes: Dmitrovic; Rosier, Sergio Gonzalez, Nastasic, Tapia (Jorge Sáenz, m.71), Javi Hernández (Brasanac, m.46); Dani Raba (Roberto López, m.79), Neyou, Cissé, Juan Cruz; and Miguel de la Fuente (Diego García, m.84).
0 – Atlético de Madrid: Oblak; Molina (Llorente, m.59), Le Normand, Lenglet, Galán (Adrián Niño, m.79); Giuliano (Correa, m.64), De Paul, Barrios (Koke, m.59), Gallagher (Lino, m.46); Griezmann and Julián Álvarez.
Goals: 1-0, m.49: Nastasic.
Match compact:
