Reigning La Liga champions Atletico Madrid won their fourth league match on the trot with a 2-1 victory against Cadiz to keep up with the race for the top four spots. Joao Felix proved to be a crucial factor for Los Rojiblancos as he found the back of the net inside three minutes following a blunder from Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma who mishandled the ball inside his own area to gift a goal to the Portuguese forward.
Felix has shown a resurgence in form and has five goals in his last five appearances to revive Atletico Madrid’s season after a horrible period for Diego Simeone and co. Neighbours and arch-rivals Real Madrid are currently 12 points ahead of Atletico and are on top of the league table.
Los Rojiblancos suffered a setback when veteran striker Alvaro Negredo headed in an equalizer from a counter-attack just before the referee whistled for half-time. However, Argentine midfield engine Rodrigo De Paul scored from a rebound to help Atleti retake the lead of the match.
Atletico ended the match with 10 men after Javi Serrano saw his marching orders straight away, following a violent challenge with two minutes remaining on the clock.
Cadiz fought until the very end and almost scored an equalizer when Luis Hernandez struck from a rebound only to see it getting cleared on the goalline by Jose Maria Gimenez.
“In terms of the result, at this late stage of the season, the most important thing is to win,”
said Simeone, whose side is currently third in the league ahead of Barcelona, who have two games in hand.
Villarreal suffered their first loss in seven games against Osasuna (0-1) last weekend. They got back to winning ways with measured performance at home against Celta Vigo. The first half proved to be a dull affair, with both teams struggling to create enough chances in the final third.
The home side raised their performance in the second half. After a fine Arnaut Danjuma run, Manu Trigueros produced a brilliant backheel to lay the ball in the path of Dani Parejo, who took aim and found the back of the net.
Villarreal saw off the threat from Celta for the remainder of the match and will enter Wednesday’s Champions League fixture against Juventus with the wind in their sails.
