Diego Simeone's side, on the club's 120th anniversary, put on an entertaining display with Antoine Griezmann at the heart of it once again. The forward produced two assists as Rodrigo de Paul, Alvaro Morata and Yannick Carrasco struck for the hosts at the Metropolitano. After Real Madrid were thumped 4-2 by Girona on Tuesday, Atletico capitalised to reel in their neighbours - runaway leaders Barcelona are too far ahead to realistically catch.

Atletico, wearing special blue and white kits at home to mark the occasion - the design was based on their first ever shirt - had their celebrations disrupted early on. Matija Nastasic put Mallorca ahead after 20 minutes, pouncing unmarked at the back post after a corner was flicked on. Predrag Rajkovic made saves from Morata and Thomas Lemar as Atletico controlled the game and looked for a way back in.

The hosts thought they had won their first penalty of the season before the break when Nahuel Molina was felled by Jose Copete, but VAR spotted the Mallorca defender touched the ball first. De Paul struck in first-half stoppage time after Rajkovic parried from Griezmann, but the Frenchman laid the rebound across for his team-mate to finish.

Atletico took the lead early in the second period when Molina crossed for Morata to powerfully head home. Rajkovic pushed away Jose Maria Gimenez's header from Griezmann's crossed free-kick as Simeone's side continued to push on. Carrasco netted the third after 77 minutes on the break after Griezmann sent him through on goal with a fine lobbed pass.

The Belgian winger raced on to the ball, ran half the length of the pitch with no defenders in his way, rounded Rajkovic and slotted home. Despite the defeat Javier Aguirre's Mallorca are safe in 11th, 10 points above the relegation zone. Almeria climbed up to 15th with a 2-1 win at Getafe, which left the hosts 17th, one point above the bottom three, which they could sink into depending on other results Thursday.

April 26, 2023

M. Nastasić

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