Atletico put pressure on Sevilla in third with convincing 3-1 win over stuttering Sampaoli side

Sevilla travelled to the Vicente Calderon in the hope of earning their first win at the stadium since 2008 and solidifying their grip on third place in LaLiga. Those hopes were dashed with goals from Diego Godin, Antoine Griezmann and Koke and after being knocked out of the Champions League during the week, Jorge Sampaoli’s men were faltering.

It was a beautiful day in Madrid as the game kicked off but Atletico got bad news after just one minute when Sime Vrsaljko pulled up and had to be replaced by Juanfran, who was making his 200th appearance for Atletico.

Atletico nearly opened the scoring on 14 minutes when a counter-attack ended with Gameiro chipping Rico only for him to see the ball strike the crossbar.

Diego Simeone wanted a booking for a dive by Be Yedder in the box but the ref pointed for a goal-kick and never showed the yellow.

On 37 minutes, Atletico had the breakthrough. After a foul by Adil Rami, and a booking, on Yannick Carrasco, Griezmann chipped the free into the box to a waiting Diego Godin, who headed beyond Sergio Rico.

Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Atletico were dominating most of the game but were struggling to create meaningful chances but with the goal lead and the fact that Sevilla have failed to threaten Oblak, things were looking good.

Sevilla changed for the second half, bringing on Stevan Jovetic in place of Clement Lenglet in order to force the issue. They did improve but were still unable to test Oblak. Griezmann came close to making it two after Atletico’s best move of the game when Atletico’s number seven linked up with Gameiro before the former struck his shot wide of Sergio Rico’s post.

Yannick Carrasco was booked for not moving back far enough when Sevilla were attempting a short corner. The yellow means he is out of Atletico’s trip to Malaga after the international break.

Kevin Gameiro had a chance to make it even more difficult for Sevilla but his first touch was very poor and he hit it straight into the path of Sergio Rico. He would be taken down just minutes later when closing in on goal and from the resulting free kick Antoine Griezmann did make it two. He struck perfectly with his left and the ball crossed the line after striking the underside of the bar.

Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Sevilla were exhausted and out of ideas and Atletico seemed to be growing stronger with every passing minute. Sampaoli brought on his last two subs in Correa and Iborra as he tried desperately to get something out of the game.

Atletico were finding space in behind Sevilla and were making some lovely combinations in the middle in front of Sevilla’s exposed back line. Atletico made it three with just over ten minutes remaining when Koke slotted home into an open goal. . It was his fifth goal in 14 games against the Andalusian side.

Atletico were home and dry and with just one shot on target in the game, it did not seem likely that they would mount a comeback. They didn’t and while Correa pulled one back for Sevilla late on, it was a case of too little too late for the visitors. Atletico close in on Sevilla in third and sit just two points behind them and with momentum on their side.