Atleti drops points to Betis as Madrid closes in
Atletico Madrid returned to the top of LaLiga, though only by a point, as it drew 1-1 with Real Betis in a thrilling encounter.
Real Madrid leapfrogged its neighbour into top spot with Sunday's (AEST) Clasico triumph over Barcelona, and in response Diego Simeone's Atletico made an ideal start against Betis on Monday.
Yannick Carrasco scored its quickest goal of the season, timed at four minutes and 36 seconds. However, Cristian Tello struck back for European hopeful Betis 15 minutes later, directing a wonderful volley into the bottom-right corner.
Chasing four home wins in a row for the first time since April 2018, Betis had the better of the second half, though Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak stood firm when called upon and his counterpart Claudio Bravo made a superb late stop from Angel Correa to preserve a deserved point.
An enthralling clash started full of promise. Joao Felix's delightful flick played in Correa, who beat the onrushing goalkeeper and squeezed a neat pass into Carrasco for a simple finish into an empty net.
Saul Niguez directed a close-range header straight at Bravo soon after, and Atleti were swiftly made to pay – Alex Moreno's cross brilliantly steered home by Tello.
Carrasco made a vital, goal-saving challenge on Emerson as half-time approached, and the Atleti scorer was in the thick of it again as he drilled into the side-netting from the resulting counter.
Having sustained a knock while on international duty with Portugal in March, Joao Felix was forced off injured here after a collision with Tello three minutes into the second half.
Atleti's frustration was almost compounded when Emerson met Nabil Fekir's cross, but Oblak was alert to the full-back's header.
Jose Gimenez made an outstanding block to deny Aitor Ruibal, but it was the ever-reliable Oblak who proved Atleti's saviour.
Diego Lainez seemed all set to strike at the culmination of a sweeping Betis move, yet Oblak made a stunning save low to his left as Atleti went back to the top of the pile – Bravo's stoppage-time efforts at the other end denying the visitors all three points.
