Atletico Madrid came out on top in a scrappy contest at Granada as Antoine Griezmann came up with a late goal for the visitors.
Antoine Griezmann’s late header earned Atletico Madrid a big three points in a laborious 1-0 win at struggling Granada ahead of a crucial run of fixtures for their top four hopes in LaLiga.
Atleti have been out of the running for the title for some time and a defeat to Barcelona coupled with a draw against Deportivo La Coruna saw Diego Simeone’s men become embroiled in a battle just to qualify for the Champions League via their standing in LaLiga, although they did get back to winning ways against Valencia last time out.
Real Sociedad were just a point behind Atleti before the clash at Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes, though, and the visitors’ prospects of securing back-to-back wins did not look good for long periods of a lacklustre contest.
However, as has so often been the case it was France forward Griezmann that came to the fore when he nodded in Koke’s centre in the 84th minute to extend Atleti’s gap over Sociedad, who play Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, to four points and leave Granada firmly in the bottom three.
Granada will ponder what may have been if Adrian Ramos had converted a decent second-half chance, but goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was called into action more and more towards the end of the game and the hosts’ misery was compounded by a late red card for Mubarak Wakaso.
It may turn out to be a crucial victory for Atleti, who host third-place Sevilla next week, while next month Sociedad travel to the Vicente Calderon and Simeone’s side visit the Santiago Bernabeu for the derby with Real Madrid.
