La Liga: Eibar 0 – 2 Atlético

Substitutes shine as red and whites grind out the win in Ipurúa

Posted by Arthur Guisasola on September 19th, 2015 3 Comments

Correa and Torres the match-winners against Eibar

Atlético Madrid put last week’s loss to Barcelona behind them on Saturday evening, as second half goals from Ángel Correa and Fernando Torres earned a 2-0 win against Eibar.

It took a while for the match to swing in the rojiblancos’ favour, but Simeone worked his magic and masterminded the win with the help of his substitutions in the second half.

The match in Ipurúa started with Vietto-Jackson-Griezmann leading the front line, but it ended without the two South Americans who were both withdrawn at half-time as Atleti failed to break the deadlock.

The Colombian and Argentine shared a couple of shots on target, but neither bothered Eibar ‘keeper Riesgo. For those questioning the two new signings just a month in the season, have some patience. The goals and cohesion will come soon, as seen with Griezmann last year.

The trident, which worked a charm in Istanbul, wasn’t working in Ipurúa. Cholo decided to immediately make changes, which is not particularly common in particularly from him, usually conservative and confident in his players.

However, Vietto and Jackson weren’t quite cutting it and had to come off. Cholo knew it, and so did the fans.

Thankfully the changes worked, Fernando Torres for Jackson, Óliver for Vietto and shortly after Correa for Koke. The team switched back to its typical and comfortable 4-4-2 and started to take control.

Seconds after coming on, Ángel Correa scored a stunner after a beautiful ball from Torres. His dummy fooled three Eibar defenders and he sent the ball to the back of the net with a shot that was too hot to handle for Riesgo.

Minutes later, Correa returned the favor. A lovely pass to Fernando Torres and a sweet strike from the Spaniard made it 2-0. It was eerily similar to the goal he scored in the Euro final against Germany in 2008.

El Niño is now Atleti’s league ‘pichichi’ so far with two goals. One more and it’ll be 100 not out for him in red and white, and looking at his current form you would bank on that coming soon.

But the game wasn’t so straightforward, Eibar’s excellent pressure kept Atleti a bit weary and always on the edge. Keko, the Atleti ‘canterano’, was Eibar’s best player and he was causing trouble up and down the pitch.

Years ago, fans and pundits alike would mix up Koke and Keko. Obviously, Koke, unlike Keko, is now known worldwide, but today Keko was the more impressive of the two.

Koke was yet again disappointing and is struggling to record his first assist, having been replaced by Correa on the hour mark. His set pieces are also leaving a lot to be desired, but luckily Atleti are finding other ways to score.

The bench also provides a variety of options. Óliver and Correa did wonderful jobs once they came on the pitch and showed just why they are rated so highly.

It will be interesting to see which 11 players Cholo will put out on the midweek match against Getafe. Correa, Torres and Óliver all showed they deserve to start, but it could be a good chance for Jackson and Vietto as well.

Atletico Madrid News 24/7


Eibar	02	Atlético Madrid
		Correa 62'
		Torres 77'

	La Liga
	Estadio Municipal de Ipurúa
	19 September 2015
	20:30 CEST

Team Lineups

Riesgo

Capa

Ramis

Santos

Luna

Escalante (82')

Dani García

Saúl Berjón (71')

Keko

Adrián (71')

Enrich

Substitutes used

Verdi '71

Borja '71

Arruabarrena '82

Oblak

Juanfran

Godín

Giménez

Filipe

Gabi

Tiago

Koke (61')

Griezmann

Vietto (46')

Jackson (46')

Substitutes used

Torres (46')

Óliver (46')

Correa (61')

Match Stats

Possession
40	60

Shots
9	14

On Target
3	6

Corners
1	4

Fouls
13	7

Yellow Cards
2	1

Red Cards
0	0

Ringo

I see us growing. Jackson was not on his level yet, but already much better than the first game, he’s getting better every time. Torres showed so much improvement this year, it’s like he’s regaining his pace too! He was great. Griezmann had a great first half but became more and more anonymous in the second.
Óliver was good when he came on, he’s already a really secure player, just need to be a little more involved, I think (but that could be the other players need of improvement), to grow into a more dominant player on the pitch.
I don’t think Koke was that bad today, he showed some great passing actually. He still needs to regain his shape a bit, but I’m not so worried about him anymore.
Giménez was pretty decent, but sometimes he showed his lack of experience a bit. I remember one dribble quite vividly where he got me thinking “what are you doing?!” but it didn’t end up badly. He’s great but he needs to work on his composure a tad more.
Also, Tiago! Has he no need of rest? Maybe Saúl, Koke and Óliver need to
be the midfield trio on tuesday to give Gabi and Tiago some air
(although I think at least Gabi will start that game, since he only played 30 minutes versus Galatasaray).
The formation of the forwards is a different story though. One half of Jackson and one of Torres could work, and alongside them Griezmann (although perhaps he could use a little rest) and preferably Correa, with Vietto a late addition. I think Vietto needs a little more time getting adjusted to the team.
The defence is pretty solid, Filipe is good, but he isn’t as clinical defensively as he could be, and Godín and Juanfran were solid as always (the header was a little fault in communication that probably won’t happen again soon. Oblak was solid.

In response to the other thread: I think some of those ratings could be higher, some 6es were actually really good and I think the team average should be closer to a 7. Then again, what’s a rating supposed to mean anyway, just play well (depending on the taste of the watcher, this may differ) and try to win 🙂

Cheers, onto the next victory!
Kris

Oliver was VERY involved yesterday, but I agree he needs to be consistent. He plays better centrally than he does on the wings, or when he is given a free role like yesterday. Was everywhere.
Ringo

yeah he was everywhere, but I still feel like he could be involved even “faster.” But that might be the pivote/defenders job as first parts of the build-up game.