Atletico Madrid 2-0 Huesca: Diego Simeone’s side leapfrog Real Madrid at top of Liga table

Atletico Madrid returned to the top of La Liga, three points clear of rivals Real Madrid, with a 2-0 home win over Huesca.

With Joao Felix and Luis Suarez still missing through injury, Diego Simeone picked the same team that thumped Eibar 5-0 at the weekend and the Argentine’s decision paid off as Atleti claimed another important win.

Huesca created the first opportunity of the match when Dimitris Siovas shot straight at Jan Oblak when he might have found the back of the net from a freekick delivery into the box, while Yannick Carrasco and Saul Niguez had shots saved at the other end.

The breakthrough came six minutes from half time as Angel Correa created a shooting opportunity for himself with an excellent turn on the edge of the box, sweeping home a finish to give Atleti the lead.

Alvaro Fernandez was called upon to make a number of saves in the second half as Atletico Madrid pushed for a second goal which eventually came when Marcos Llorente squared for Carrasco to make it 2-0 on 80 minutes. This was enough to send them back to the top of La Liga with a three-point lead over Real Madrid in second place.

This was much more like it from Atleti. Simeone’s side have been less than convincing in recent weeks, but they have now claimed convincing wins in back-to-back games following on from the thumping of Eibar at the weekend. What is somewhat surprising is that these impressive performances have come with Suarez ruled out. Many expected the capital side to struggle, especially in attack, but Atletico Madrid have instead found their groove again. They could have scored more than just twice here.

This performance demonstrated why Llorente has become such an important figure for Atletico Madrid over the last 12 months or so. With Felix and Suarez sidelined, the onus was on the former defensive midfielder to deliver the goods in the final and that’s exactly what he did with two assists. Everything Atleti did well flowed through Llorente. He was the biggest difference between the two teams.

Atletico Madrid - Oblak 5, Trippier 7, Savic 6, Gimenez 5, Lodi 8, Carrasco 7, Herrera 5, Koke 5, Saul 5, Correa 8, Llorente 9. Subs - Felipe 5, Dembele 6, Vitolo 3, Torreira 3, Kondogbia 3.

Huesca - Fernandez 8, Insua 5, Pulido 5, Siovas 4, Escriche 5, Doumbia 5, Mosquera 5, Rico 3, Gomez 5, Mir 4, Okazaki 4. Subs - Galan 3, Lopez 3, Ferreiro 3, Garcia 4, Sandro 7.

4’ What a chance! Huesca have started well and Siovas might have found the back of the net from a freekick delivery into the box! He could only shoot straight at Oblak! Golden opportunity!

13’ Double save! That's the closest Atletico Madrid have come to finding the back of the net! Fernandez makes the save from Carrasco and then he gets back up to deflect the second strike from Saul!

39’ GOAL! Atletico Madrid 1-0 Huesca: The deadlock has been broken! Atletico Madrid have the lead! The ball was played down the right to Trippier, he played the pass into Llorente, he fed Correa and he created the chance for himself with a lovely turn. Good finish as well!

80’ GOAL! Atletico Madrid 2-0 Huesca: A second Atletico Madrid goal and that should be all three points in the bag! Dembele was played in behind, his cut back was careless, Llorente nipped in and squared the ball for Carrasco who was on hand to finish into the empty net!

Angel Correa has now scored three goals in his last two games for Atletico Madrid and has seven league goals for the season, just one behind his best tally of eight (2017/18).

Yannick Carrasco has now scored in three consecutive games for Atletico Madrid for the first time after 169 appearances.