La Liga: Atletico edge Gatafe 1-0

Atletico Madrid ground out a narrow 1–0 victory away to Getafe on Sunday, ensuring they remain firmly in the chase behind La Liga’s frontrunners.

Diego Simeone’s men, sitting fourth, are now just three points off Barcelona and Real Madrid after a late Domingos Duarte own goal settled a tense derby at the Coliseum.

Real Madrid, led by Xabi Alonso, face Elche later and could restore their lead at the top.

On a cold evening in Getafe, Atletico struggled to find rhythm and were dealt an early setback when Marcos Llorente limped off.

The first half offered little in terms of spectacle, with Getafe—seventh and traditionally strong at home—doing well to disrupt their rivals’ flow.

Koke marked a remarkable milestone with his 700th appearance for Atletico, though the captain’s landmark match hardly sparkled.

Standing in for the injured Jan Oblak, goalkeeper Juan Musso enjoyed one of the quietest nights of his career, barely called into action as the visitors held on for a gritty but vital win.

His counterpart David Soria was a little busier, saving well from Nico Gonzalez early on.

Gonzalez blocked Mauro Arambarri’s effort after an hour as Getafe briefly threatened.

Simeone brought off striker Julian Alvarez, who had a quiet night, for target man Alexander Sorloth in search of a potential winner.

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Soria saved from Giacomo Raspadori as Atletico turned the screw and the Italian forward was involved in the game’s only goal.

Raspadori turned a cross back across goal and Duarte bundled clumsily into his own net under pressure from Antoine Griezmann in the 82nd minute.

It proved enough to split the teams, although Arambarri crashed a shot against the crossbar in stoppage time as Getafe nearly snatched an equaliser.

“(Simeone) told me before I went on to take advantage of my chance,” Raspadori told DAZN.

“I had a bit of luck with the own-goal, but I am very happy,” he continued.

“When these games are tough, winning is important. People told me it would be tough here, and so it was, but we did well in the end.”

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