Atletico Madrid ran riot in the second half, racking up three goals en-route to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Celta Vigo.
Correa’s early strike was met after the restart by De Paul’s deflected strike from distance and Carrasco’s wonderful solo effort – both within 20 minutes of the restart.
A Celta Vigo goal from the second-phase of a corner-kick looked to be promising for the visitors heading into the final quarter-hour but Cunha’s mazy run and finish – credited as a Nunez own goal – put the result beyond doubt and gave the Colchoneros their joint-largest win of the season.
The result puts Simeone’s side up into fourth place, while Celta Vigo drop into 10th.
Starting lineup:
ATLETICO MADRID XI (5-3-2): Ivo Grbic;
Yannick Carrasco, Reinildo, Axel Witsel, Mario Hermoso, Nahuel Molina;
Thomas Lemar, Rodrigo De Paul, Geoffrey Kondogbia;
Alvaro Morata, Angel Correa.
ATLETICO SUBS: Alejandro Iturbe, Saul Niguez, Felipe, Marcos Llorente, Joao Felix, Matheus Cunha, Antoine Griezmann, Koke, Marco Moreno, Antonio Gomis.
CELTA VIGO XI (4-4-2): Agustin Marchesin;
Javi Galan, Unai Nunez, Joseph Aidoo, Hugo Mallo;
Franco Cervi, Fran Beltran, Renato Tapia, Carles Perez;
Jorgen Strand Larsen, Iago Aspas.
CELTA VIGO SUBS: Miguel Rodriguez, Ivan Villar, Kevin Vazquez, Gabriel Veiga, Carlos Dominguez, Augusto Solari, Oscar Mingueza, Francisco Lopez, Luca De La Torre, Williot Swedberg.
Goals:
ATLETICO TAKE THE LEAD! 1-0! The hosts capitalise on a well-worked move that sees the ball progress from left wing to right before De Paul is able to slip a pass into the penalty area for Correa, who finishes with a lovely first-time hit!
ATLETICO MADRID DOUBLE THE LEAD! 2-0! Carrasco finds a pocket of space down the left and chips the ball into the penalty area for Koke, who lays it off to the approaching De Paul. The Argentina international curls a low shot from 20 yards out that takes a deflection and leaves Marchesin powerless!
3-0 ATLETICO! WHAT A STRIKE! The wing-back sprints the entire length of Celta Vigo’s half and gets into the penalty area, slaloming inside and out to earn room ahead of Mallo before slotting a shot that beats the goalkeeper at his near post!
CELTA VIGO MAKE IT 3-1! Atletico Madrid fail to clear a Celta corner-kick, with Aspas able to pick up possession and play it through the lines for Veiga. The substitute swivels and hits a first-time shot that manages to squeeze in-between the goalkeeper and the near post!
ATLETICO MADRID GRAB ANOTHER! 4-1! Cunha picks up possession of the ball in his own half and manages to sprint the length of the pitch towards Marchesin’s penalty area, putting it around Nunez and beating him for pace before tucking a shot off the defender’s shins that rolls past the goalkeeper and in! It’s an unfortunate own goal for the centre-back, who has not had his best outing.
So, what’s next?
Atletico Madrid travel to play Bayer Leverkusen in Tuesday’s Champions League action.
Ahead of a home fixture against Real Madrid next Sunday. Celta Vigo have seven days before their next match, away against Valencia.
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