Late Griezmann strike ends Atletico's away-day hoodoo

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Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann struck the decisive goal in a thrilling 3-2 win at Real Valladolid on Saturday to move level on points with Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

The home side had battled back from 2-0 down but ultimately Atletico's greater firepower prevailed.

Croatian forward Nikola Kalinic scored for the second league game in a row to put the visitors ahead in the 26th minute, sliding to the ground to produce a powerful finish after latching on to a wonderful pass from Griezmann.

The Frenchman doubled Atletico's lead on the stroke of halftime by hammering a penalty into the top corner after it was awarded with the help of the Video Assistant Referee but Valladolid came out fighting in the second half.

Atletico Madrid's French forward Antoine Griezmann scores a penalty during the match between Real Valladolid and Atletico Madrid in La Liga at the Jose Zorrilla stadium in Valladolid, Spain, December 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

Fernando Calero headed the home side back into the game from a corner in the 57th and six minutes later they leveled with an own goal from Atletico's Saul Niguez following another corner.

Griezmann had the final say with 10 minutes left, arrowing the ball into the far corner from close range after Valladolid failed to clear. It gave Diego Simeone's side their first away win in La Liga since beating Getafe 2-0 on Sept. 22.

The victory takes Atletico second in the standings, locked on 31 points with leaders Barcelona, who face Levante on Sunday, and three ahead of Sevilla before their game at home to Girona.

Real Madrid 1-0 Rayo Vallecano

Real Madrid edged a 1-0 win over minnows Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, earning a third consecutive La Liga victory and rising to third in the table, but they again failed to sparkle and had to endure booing from their unhappy supporters.

Karim Benzema beat a poorly constructed Rayo offside trap to score the only goal of the game in the 13th minute and Toni Kroos came close to doubling Madrid's advantage later in the first half when he struck a post from outside the box.

The win put Santiago Solari's side up to third place in the standings on 29 points, one clear of fourth-placed Sevilla who host Girona on Sunday and two behind champions and leaders Barcelona, who visit Levante, and Atletico Madrid.

Marco Asensio (L) of Real Madrid tries to shoot past Abdoulaye Ba of Rayo Vallecano de Madrid during the La Liga match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain, December 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

Madrid, who were also booed off on Wednesday after losing 3-0 to CSKA Moscow, their worst-ever home defeat in European competition, continued to suffer defensively at the back.

They leaked plenty of chances to their neighbors, who are fighting relegation and have only won twice all season.

Rayo defender Emiliano Velazquez came desperately close to equalizing with a bullet header from a corner shortly after Benzema's goal.

Then, as the visitors laid siege to Madrid's goal in the closing stages, it took an impressive double save from Thibaut Courtois in stoppage time to prevent Rayo from grabbing a point.

Even though the European champions weathered the storm, it did not stop the infamously demanding Santiago Bernabeu crowd from raining down boos on their team.

It was a far from ideal send-off in their final league game of 2018 before they fly to Abu Dhabi to defend their Club World Cup title.

Other Matches

Celta Vigo and Leganes contested a goalless draw on Friday night. Eibar draw 1-1 with Valencia as Rodrigo Moreno of Valencia and Charles of Eibar contributed one goal for each team respectively, and Getafe beat Real Sociedad 1-0 result thanks to Jorge Molina's 3rd minute goal on Saturday.

The Sunday fixtures are: Sevilla vs Girona, Espanyol vs Real Betis, SD Huesca vs. Villarreal and Levante vs Barcelona.

Source(s): Reuters