La Liga: Griezmann, Gameiro get Atletico back to winning ways

TIL Desk Sports/ Atletico Madrid’s French forwards Antoine Griezmann and Kevin Gameiro fired them to a first win in three league outings as they beat Valencia 3-0 on Sunday to maintain their hold on Spain’s fourth Champions League qualifying place. Top scorer Griezmann latched onto a through ball from Koke to arrow a first-time finish into the bottom corner in the 10th minute, while Gameiro notched his 10th league goal this season three minutes after the break with the help of a deflection.

Griezmann then rounded off the scoring in the 83rd when he pounced on an over-hit pass from team mate Thomas Partey and poked home to score his 12th league goal of the campaign. It was a crucial victory for Atletico, who lost to Barcelona last weekend and suffered a disappointing 1-1 draw at Deportivo La Coruna on Thursday.

Club favourite Fernando Torres sat in the stands after recovering from head trauma sustained against Deportivo and was given a standing ovation by supporters in the second half. “It was a fantastic performance after playing on Thursday, we responded very well physically and managed the game well,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone told reporters.