Atletico blitz Sevilla with ruthless 1st-half display to go top
Atletico Madrid brushed aside Sevilla with a commanding 3-1 win at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, producing a sharp first-half display that left the home side chasing the game almost from the start.
Match highlight
It was a match that Atletico controlled before the final whistle. They came out with intent and needed only 4 minutes to strike. Lee Kang-in slipped the ball through. Alex Baena finished from a tight angle squeezing his effort past Odysseas Vlachodimos to give the visitors an early lead.
Sevilla had a chance to answer immediately. Robbie Ure headed wide when he really should have done better. For all the energy inside the stadium that was about as close as the home side came in the opening spell.
Sevilla improved a little toward the end of the half. Kike Salas went close with a long-range effort that drifted just wide but Diego Simeones side were still the more dangerous team whenever they broke forward.
With pressure beginning to build around them Atletico found a goal through Ademola Lookman, who drilled a low finish in at the near post and took a lot of air out of the ground.
It got even worse in the minute when Baena struck again. This time he was given much room outside the box and sent a shot through traffic and into the net leaving Vlachodimos with little chance.
At 3-0 the game already felt close to done. Atletico nearly added a 5 minutes after half-time when Lookman tapped into an empty net only for the flag to go up for offside.
Sevilla kept trying, to their credit. They still found moments. Ure missed another decent chance around the hour mark as the hosts searched for some route back into the contest. Eventually they did get a goal.
Miguel Sierra showed technique to cut inside and fire a left-footed finish into the net in the 67th minute opening his account for the club and giving Sevilla at least a bit of life.
Atletico never really looked shaken. As Sevilla pushed for a 2nd they left gaps behind and Vlachodimos had to produce an important save to stop Pablo Barrios from adding another with a header.
There was also a penalty appeal that might have worried Atletico for a moment but it came to nothing and the visitors saw the game out without too much real panic.
The result ends Sevillas start to the season and lifts Atletico to the top of the table at least for the next 24 hours. It also means Simeones side have now won 7 of their 10 meetings with Sevilla, in LaLiga.
