Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in each half to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-1 win over Levante in their first match back from the Christmas break in La Liga this afternoon.
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Arda Turan thought that he had opened the scoring early on when he tapped the ball in at the far post following a Mario Mandzukic free kick, but the referee judged the striker to be in an offside position.
The deadlock was broken shortly after though, as Guilherme Siqueira crossed the ball in for Antoine Griezmann to head past the Levante keeper.
Turan almost made amends for the disallowed goal when he set Mandzukic up for a header in for a second shortly after, but the home side saw their efforts chalked off for the second time because of an offside.
The Spanish champions needed just a couple of minutes after the restart to find a second though, as Griezmann tapped in a rebound from close range after Mandzukic had a header saved.
Atletico tried to put the result beyond doubt before the hour mark, as Manzukic just missed the target before Tiago saw his effort deflected wide after a Griezmann through-ball set him up for the shot.
The misses proved costly as Levante halved the deficit with just over 25 minutes still to play, as Nabil El Zhar turned in a low cross from victory just moments after coming off the bench.
Both sides pushed for the fourth goal of the afternoon, and it was the hosts that got it when Koke charged forward before crossing in towards Diego Godin, who was left with a simple header at the post.
Raul Garcia could have added a fourth in stoppage time, but the midfielder hurried his shot, sending it straight to Diego Marino in the Levante goal.
Sian Cowper
