Antoine Griezmann’s first-half goal was enough to give Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at third division Marbella and send them into the Copa del Rey round of 16.
The Frenchman scored after just 16 minutes, grabbing a rebound after Marbella goalkeeper Daniel Martin blocked Giuliano Simeone’s point-blank attempt.
Rodrigo De Paul thought he had increased the advantage early in the second half, but saw his goal disallowed for a handball in the build-up, while Conor Gallagher’s curling effort hit the post just after the hour mark.
Marbella improved in the second half, without posing too much of a threat, but did prevent Atletico from securing a more convincing victory.
The visitors had chances to close out the game late on, but Angel Correa and Alexander Sorloth both fired shots narrowly wide and into the side netting without testing Martin.
Data Debriefing: Hot Sequence
This was only the second time the two teams had met in the Copa del Rey, with Atletico winning both fourth round matches in the 2010 edition by an aggregate score of 8–0.
It was a little less straightforward on Saturday, but Griezmann’s 12th goal of the season in all competitions was enough to see them through.
Atletico have now won each of their last 13 matches in all competitions, equaling the best winning streak in their history (August-October 2012, also under Diego Simeone).
They dominated throughout the match, with 59.8% possession and 18 shots, although only five were on target, and finished with an expected goal (xG) of 1.29 to Marbella’s 0.29 on five attempts .
