Simeone comes to the rescue as Atletico Madrid held to thrilling draw by Villarreal

[p]While transfer-linked superstar [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alvarez-julian/bBHauDIC/"]Julian Alvarez[/a] was only on the bench, new signing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grimaldo-alex/6cAIrW5Q/"]Alejandro Grimaldo[/a] was determined to make a name for himself on his [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atleti[/a] debut and tested [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/luiz-junior/WShuFWRi/"]Luiz Júnior[/a] almost immediately with a dipping shot that had to be parried away.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/villarreal/lUatW5jE/"]Villarreal[/a], though, were equally as threatening in the opening stages, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pubill-pages-marc/8EZ7QILP/"]Marc Pubill[/a] required to make an excellent block to deny a certain goal for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mikautadze-georges/QgN9t9CH/"]Georges Mikautadze[/a]. [/p][p]Junior was busy again midway through the first half as he got behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mendoza-rodrigo/YNiXFzek/"]Rodrigo Mendoza[/a]’s effort, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oblak-jan/SYy8ZHN9/"]Jan Oblak[/a] made sure the score remained level at half-time by first parrying Mikautadze’s strike and then smothering [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perez-ayoze/tYV5MSap/"]Ayoze Pérez[/a]’s close-range poke.[/p][p]The goalless state of affairs at the break means Atlético have now only led once at half-time in their last eight home fixtures as Villarreal, who finished a place above them in third last season, proved difficult opponents again.[/p][p]The first chance of the second half also fell to the Yellow Submarine when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pepe-nicolas/j3Hk0qEj/"]Nicolas Pepe[/a] twisted Grimaldo inside out before curling towards the top corner, only for Oblak to expertly tip over.[/p][p][b]However, against the run of play, Atlético took the lead just before the hour mark. Pubill played a one-two with Giuliano Simeone around the edge of the box before beautifully curling into the top corner, matching his goal tally of one from last season.[/b] [/p][embed guid="c384e25f-55c0-4073-bddb-6a194e31d25c" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2091569258660552941" social-type="twitter" /][p]Nevertheless, the hosts’ jubilations were short-lived.[/p][p][b]New Colchoneros signing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hjulmand-morten/pjC6hC8U/"]Morten Hjulmand[/a] fouled substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/buchanan-tajon/G62SXlFI/"]Tajon Buchanan[/a] in the box, allowing another replacement in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moreno-gerard/UwfDD083/"]Gerard Moreno[/a] to sweep the resulting penalty into the bottom corner with his first touch. [/b][/p][p]Shortly after, Villarreal could not believe their luck when they were awarded a second penalty after Mikautadze was pushed in the area, which also resulted in a red card for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/le-normand-robin/8GVQFgH4/"]Robin Le Normand[/a].[/p][p][b]On this occasion, Mikautadze himself stepped up and fired the same way as Moreno, leaving Oblak with no chance once more.[/b][/p][p][b]There was still time for more drama, though. While the hosts had, by this point, introduced Alvarez into the fray, it was FIFA World Cup winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baena-alex/bmeQTB92/"]Alex Baena[/a] who fed through Simeone before the latter shot across Júnior to bring his side level as the clock approached 90 minutes. [/b][/p][p]Villarreal could have snatched victory when Oblak smothered Buchanan’s effort from close range, but they have to settle for another 2-2 draw after being held to the same scoreline by newly-promoted [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/racing-santander/nVpEwOrl/"]Racing Santander[/a] in their LaLiga opener.[/p][p]Atleti boss Diego Simeone, meanwhile, will be pleased with his team’s fighting spirit, and four points from their opening two games represents a steady return.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simeone-giuliano/IJTJu41i/"]Giuliano Simeone[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atletico Madrid[/a])[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="c8926448-4869-4d62-aa47-9df3525f198b" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="cab3fc07-ba66-48d1-b77a-25644f225384" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/atl-madrid-jaarqpLQ/villarreal-lUatW5jE/?mid=ImSSgC06"][b]Check out all the match stats with Flashscore[/b].[/a][/p]