Antoine Griezmann struck the only goal of the game three minutes into injury time as Atletico Madrid secured a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Sporting Gijon at Estadio Vicente Calderon this afternoon.
Atletico came into the match on an unbeaten run spanning six matches since September 30, but they drew last weekend in La Liga and against Astana in the Champions League in midweek and though they monopolised possession early on they were unable to carve out any genuine chances.
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Yannick Carrasco fired wide after exchanging passes with Jackson Martinez as Diego Simeone's side pinned the visitors back in their own half, and the home fans wanted a penalty when the ball appeared to hit the hand of Bernardo Espinosa.
The first big chance of the match arrived 10 minutes before the break but it was the visitors who were denied an opening goal by a fine save from Jan Oblak, as the Slovenian goalkeeper leapt to his right to keep out Alen Halilovic's strike.
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The second half was far more open as both sides began to finally create clear chances, and Sporting goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar was finally called into action to tip over a fierce effort from Griezmann which was heading for the top corner.
Koke fired inches wide after cutting in from the left as Atletico went for the jugular, before Cuellar was needed again to make a fine double save to keep his side level, parrying Griezmann's shot at his near post and somehow getting across to tip the Frenchman's rebound wide.
Two minutes later, it was Gijon's turn to threaten as Jony hit a long-range piledriver towards goal and Oblak scrambled across to keep it out, but there was a cruel twist in the tale for the visitors.
In the third minute of four added on, a speculative free kick was launched into the box and Griezmann beat Cuellar to Diego Godin's flick-on to turn home his seventh goal of the season and ensure that Atletico kept within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Tom Nightingale
