Primera División
Fermin braces seals win for Barca over Atleti
Fermin Lopez was the architect of a Barcelona fightback as it beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 to move three points clear at the top of LaLiga. … Show More
Fermin Lopez was the architect of a Barcelona fightback as it beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 to move three points clear at the top of LaLiga.
The Blaugrana had seen Real Madrid move level on points with a 3-0 win over Valencia, and they knew a defeat at the Estadio Metropolitano would put Atleti top going into the international break.
An action-packed start saw the host side go ahead through Giuliano Simeone, but Fermin applied a deadly first-time finish in either half to clinch a statement win for the two-time defending champion.
Having been the subject of a high-profile pursuit from Barca this summer, Julian Alvarez had a huge chance to put Atleti in front after six minutes, but he took the ball far too wide and was unable to cut it back for a team-mate after Joan Garcia raced out to meet him.
The crossbar was then struck by both teams in the space of one minute and nine seconds, with David Hancko doing so from a corner for Atleti before Pedri rattled the woodwork with a left-footed curler on the break.
But it was Atleti that took the lead in the 10th minute, with Alvarez picking out Simeone for a simple finish after Marcos Llorente found him with a brilliant, swerving pass with the outside of his boot.
Alvarez should have had another assist soon afterwards as Atleti kept the pressure on, but no Rojiblancos shirts were waiting to turn his cross-shot in after he worked a one-two with Lee Kang-in.
But Barca hit back on the stroke of half-time, with Pedri's surging run through midfield putting Atleti on the defensive. He offloaded to Fermin, and when the 23-year-old's attempted pass towards Pau Cubarsi deflected back to him, he whipped a delightful effort into the right side of the goal.
The momentum was with the Blaugrana early in the second half as Lamine Yamal fired just wide of the far corner, although Alvarez had half a chance on the break, with his attempted lob beating Garcia but just fading wide.
Yamal was the creator when Barca took the lead in the 66th minute, slipping a lovely pass between Hancko and Alejandro Grimaldo, with Fermin drilling across Jan Oblak and into the far corner.
With Atleti chasing shadows in midfield, it was the visitor that went closest to scoring another goal late on, with Anthony Gordon's centre just out of reach for Yamal.
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