Atletico Madrid back to winning ways as Athletic Club's European hopes take hit

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atleti[/a] recalled a handful of more experienced names following their loss to Elche in midweek, but they were under pressure within three minutes as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guruzeta-gorka/bTKd7PI5/"]Gorka Guruzeta[/a] stretched to reach a ball over the top, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oblak-jan/SYy8ZHN9/"]Jan Oblak[/a] had the tight angle covered to stop the shot.[/p][p]That was the only effort from either side in the first quarter of the match, which saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/baena-alex/bmeQTB92/"]Alex Baena[/a] denied a penalty after going down in the box.[/p][p][b]But, midway through the first half, the visitors made the second shot count, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/inigo-ruiz/AqAnv17H/"]Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta[/a]’s corner was met by a bullet header from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vivian-daniel/x2fvXYO7/"]Dani Vivian[/a].[/b][/p][p]Having become only the fourth side to concede first at home to Athletic this season, Los Colchoneros finally created something with nine minutes of the half to play, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simeone-giuliano/IJTJu41i/"]Giuliano Simeone[/a]’s cross from the right was met by a firm [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sorloth-alexander/QwqgNkTP/"]Alexander Sorloth[/a] header, which the striker planted straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simon-unai/Ao9Vw3hi/"]Unai Simon[/a].[/p][p]Other than that, the hosts continued to look disjointed and were whistled off at half-time by a frustrated home crowd.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="d5d52a33-8b64-469c-855a-d78a052c036c" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="4498993f-cdc7-4cb4-9675-4a4d4f62fe70" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][b]But those jeers turned to cheers just four minutes into the second half, when a low centre from Baena from the left took a couple of deflections but still found its way to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/griezmann-antoine/OxCa1jdT/"]Antoine Griezmann[/a], who poked home the equaliser. [/b][/p][p][b]Five minutes later, and the match had been turned on its head, as Simeone ran hard through the middle of the park before finding Sorloth, who played an expert one-two with Baena before finishing coolly. [/b][/p][p]The Norwegian almost had a brace moments later, but this time he fired wide when aiming for the top corner.[/p][embed guid="19bf7496-7ea1-4e1b-8b76-d0c9bc3f16a5" url="https://x.com/atletienglish/status/2048144581049409903" social-type="twitter" /][p]The hour mark saw momentum swing back in Lehoiak’s favour - Guruzeta did superbly to bring the ball down at the edge of the box before firing a whisker wide, then an [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sancet-ohian/hpZLKZVC/"]Oihan Sancet[/a] effort needed a firm block, before Dani Vivian rose highest at a set-piece again, but this time his header went over.[/p][p]In the final 10 minutes, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ath-bilbao/IP5zl0cJ/"]Bilbao[/a] side looked to be running out of ideas, as long-range strikes from Vivian and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vesga-mikel/CSIEND11/"]Mikel Vesga[/a] didn’t come close to troubling Oblak.[/p][p][b]In stoppage time, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/molina-nahuel/M3TzoLot/"]Nahuel Molina[/a] picked out Sorloth on halfway, and the striker raced away unchallenged to seal the points for Atleti, who avoided suffering five consecutive league losses for the first time since 1942. [/b][/p][p][b]The Basque club grabbed a consolation in the dying seconds through a Guruzeta header[/b], but they missed the chance for a first double in 26 years and remain three points shy of the top six.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sorloth-alexander/QwqgNkTP/"]Alexander Sorloth[/a] (Atletico Madrid)[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="53cad2cc-5bb2-4d0e-84d0-d940f47f1380" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="5852ff41-268c-4ae8-8f49-03b2d70c8f17" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ath-bilbao-IP5zl0cJ/atl-madrid-jaarqpLQ/?mid=2cphmG8N"]Check out the match stats on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]