Valenica give Atletico Madrid their first defeat of the season

Valencia 2:0 Atletico Madrid

(20’ Soldado), (95’ Valdéz)

 

After 23 three consecutive wins, Atletico Madrid suffered a frustrating defeat in Valencia this weekend. Though they put forth a strong effort, they couldn’t seem to convert their attempts to goals. The match was most certainly a dramatic affair, no one seemed happy with the decisions the referee was making. Valencia’s manager, Pellegrino, and defender Ricardo Costa, were both thrown from the match. Radamel Falcao should have had two penalties, but all he got was a bloody forehead.

 

The first half began well, Atleti had some great chances to score. The problems began within the first ten minutes.  An attempted header off a corner kick for Los Colchoneros, gave way to freeplay in the box until Pereira shoved Falcao to the ground. While he was on the ground, Roberto Soldado’s cleat scraped across his forehead, leaving him bleeding on the ground. The referee felt no need to award him a penalty. Falcao, being the hero that he is, ran off the pitch and shortly returned to with a red bandage around his head.

About ten minutes later, things got even worse for Atleti. Roberto Soldado scored an excellent goal. He craftily sent a long, lofty pass right past Courtois into the left back corner of the net putting Valencia up by one. Los Rojiblancos put up a good fight, and had some good opportunities, but they just couldn’t seem to overcome the defense of Los Che. Just before the end of the first half, Valencia’s coach, Mauricio Pellegrino, was thrown out of the match for arguing with the officials.  The half ended with Valencia up by one goal.

Atelti began the second half trying to equalize. However, the luck just wasn’t with them. Once they got inside the box, they just couldn’t seem to make any plays good enough to score. They were close to scoring quite a few times, but the number of quality plays they had were fewer than normal. Things didn’t get any better when El Tigre was robbed of yet another penalty. This time it was even more obvious, yet the referee still didn’t call anything. Falcao was in the box during a free kick, and Valencia’s Rami, grabbed his arm and yanked him to the ground.

As the game came to a close, Valencia managed to get one more goal past a discouraged Atletico Madrid. In the 95^th minute, Valdez received a great through pass and faked out Courtois to score, giving Los Che a 2-0 victory over Atleti.

Overall, it was a game full of yellow cards, arguing, and unfair officiating that affected both teams. It was a sad day for all Atleti fans, as our undefeated run has ended. However, that doesn’t mean that hope is lost quite yet. Los Rojiblancos are still in second place in La Liga, and are also still ahead of city rivals, Real Madrid.

Atleti has a chance to redeem themselves and keep their undefeated record in the Europa League this Thursday when they play Académica de Coimbra.  Until then, ¡Aupa Atleti!

written by Donais Deetz