Atlético beat Eibar on Saturday noon with a goal by Saúl and extend gap from fourth placed Sevilla up to five points with only two fixtures to the end of the season. Red-and-whites are now only one point from the objective of finishing third. Fernando Torres played the full 45 minutes of the second half with a high level performance up front.

Atlético de Madrid tried hard to score from the very first minute against a tough opponent. The first goal came late after the break, but there were some good chances in the first half. First it was Koke, then Carrasco and finally Saúl who could not manage to score from good plays of the local side.

The second half began with Torres coming in off the bench to ad more pressure to Yoel's goal. The rival keeper worked hard and saved the attempts by Filipe Luis, Griezmann and Carrasco, but couldn’t stop Saúl's hard left-footed drive near the post in the 69th minute. Torres surprisingly allowed free way to the cross by Godin to get the most from Saul’s shooting position.

From this moment on, the team pressed harder and the second goal could have been scored but Yoel saved another drive from Saúl.


- Match stats:

Atlético de Madrid: Oblak; Thomas, Godín, Lucas, Filipe Luis; Koke, Saúl, Gabi, Nico Gaitán (Fernando Torres, 46’); Carrasco (Tiago, 80’) and Griezmann (Correa, 86’).

Eibar: Yoel; Arbilla, Ramis (Gálvez, 59’), Lejeune, Juncá; Escalante, Dani García, Pedro León, Inui (Rubén Peña, 76’); Kike García (Adrián, 84’) and Sergi Enrich.

Referee: Fernández Borbalán. Red for double yellow for Godín (89’ and 92’). Booked the home players Griezmann (15’), Filipe Luis (53’) and Fernando Torres (94’); and the visiting Ramis (43’), Arbilla (52’) and Dani García (92’).

The goal:

1-0 (69') Saúl makes a hard shot from the penalty arc tight to Yoel's right post after a cross by Godín from the left.

- Match report by atleticodemadrid.com