La Liga Week 36: Espanyol - Atletico Madrid

Aguero 0-1

Forlan 0-2


Atletico Madrid with an easy victory

Atlético de Madrid cemented their place among the top four with a comfortable victory in Montjuïc on Thursday evening against a free-falling Espanyol side.

Defensive gifts were given to Sergio Agüero and Diego Forlán and it could have been an eve greater win for the visitors had they had a bit more luck in goal.

The hosts were barracked and jeered by their own fans as they confirmed that they will remain outside the top ten in a season when a UEFA Cup place looked to be the minimum that they could hope for.

Atlético may have been expecting a testing encounter and the game was billed by the home team as being like a final, but if it had been then Los Colchoneros would have walked away with any trophy.

Espanyol went into game requiring the three points not only to stake a claim for an Intertoto Cup place, but also tpo placate their supporters who spent the majority of the game demonstrating.

While the hosts enjoyed the majority of possession, it was the visitors who were clinical in front of goal and sharpness up front was the key difference between the teams.

There were early signs of the way the match would go when Forlán and Agüero went close, but Espanyol did come back and showed signs of the form that saw them challenging for a top four finish in the first half of the campaign.

Without Raúl Tamudo though, Luis García for the Blanc i Blau was unable to find much room up against Pablo Ibañez and Luis Perea and Leo Franco had a quiet evening.

There were actually few chances at either end before the opening goal and when it came it was the result of some terrble defending by the home team and some quick thinking by the away side.

Ibañez met a corner on the floor and poked it goalwards. Zabaleta let it roll past him and Agüero snuck in to lift the ball into the roof of the net.

Espanyol were still reeling when they let in a second two minutes and that was the end of the match as a contest with over an hour still to play.

Iñaki Lafuente came to meet a cross from Antonio López and could only pat it down to Forlán, who turned and swung the ball back into the far corner of the net.

It was a dreadful mistake and bolstered Atlético's position and they were then able to sit back and only go forward on the break.

After the break, Marc Torrejón was exposed when Forlán strolled past him before shooting into the side-netting before both teams then hit the woodwork with equally impressive efforts.

Atlético's chance came when Maxi Rodríguez caught a high cross on the volley from an acute angle and watched as it curled back over the keeper and came down off the underside of the bar.

At the other end Luis García took aim from a free-kick on the wing and he too caught the opposition keeper cold with the ball going past Leo Franco and bouncing out off the far post.

The final moments were a stroll for the away team and as the whistle blew to end the game Atlético celebrated taking another step towards the Champions League while Espanyol were booed off as their crisis continued.