Antoine Griezmann Stars as Atletico Madrid Top Almeria to Close Gap on Barcelona

Atletico Madrid cruised to a comfortable victory on Saturday, defeating Almeria, 3-0, at the Vicente Calderon in La Liga.

Three first-half goals in the space of 16 minutes from Antoine Greizmann and Mario Mandzukic effectively ended the contest before the interval, ensuring Atletico bounced back strongly from last weekend's surprising defeat to Celta Vigo in Galicia. 

The win also meant Diego Simeone's side capitalised on Barcelona's slip-up against Malaga earlier in the day, pulling to within three points of the Catalans on the league table and giving themselves breathing room from the chasing Valencia. Inside La Liga highlighted the win:

After their laboured performance against Celta Vigo, there was an urgency to Atleti's play at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday. From the first whistle, Los Colchoneros burst forward, launched cross after cross and harassed Almeria every time possession was lost. 

On the sideline, Simeone could be seen demanding a high-tempo match—an order that his players followed and reaped the rewards of.

Also igniting the hosts was Arda Turan's return from suspension, the Turk driving Atleti's forays forward from his starting position on the right and giving headaches to Almeria left-back Sebastian Dubarbier. 

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

However, despite their bright start, the home side required a dash of fortune to break the deadlock.

In the 12th minute, Diego Godin won a soft penalty after Mauro Dos Santos had made contact with the defender's back as he rose for a header in the box. 

Mandzukic dispatched the resulting spot-kick with ease. AS English noted Godin's penalty win, and MisterChip (English) provided a look at Mandzukic's positive scoring trend:

Almeria then brought about their own undoing just seven minutes later, when Fran Velez's poor pass went straight to Mandzukic, who neatly threaded a ball through the visitors' defence for Griezmann to run onto. 

In clinical fashion, the Frenchman stormed into the penalty area before opening up his body and calmly sliding his shot into the bottom left corner. 

Not long later, Atleti's dynamic forward pairing was at it again. Consistently causing havoc on the right, Turan whipped a cross in to Mandzukic, who rose to nod the ball into Griezmann's path.

Just as he'd done earlier, the former Real Sociedad star slipped his strike past Julian with ease. ESPN FC's Nicholas Rigg and OptaJose pointed out how well Griezmann and Mandzukic played in addition to how well Atletico Madrid played in general:

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

When play resumed after the break, Atletico were happy to take their foot off the accelerator somewhat, conceding territory and allowing Almeria to enjoy more time on the ball. Juan Ignacio Martinez's men obliged and enjoyed their best spell of the game in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. 

In the 60th minute, midfielder Corona latched onto a ball just outside the box and fired a low shot that was only inches wide and had Miguel Angel Moya beaten. 

Less than 10 minutes later, Godin produced an important block after Corona had made another threatening strike when surging forward from his central starting berth. 

But that was as close as Almeria got, with the game petering out in the last 20 minutes at the Vicente Calderon. 

For Simeone, it became an opportunity to rest his stars for next week's Champions League clash in Bayer Leverkusen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.  

Fernando Torres came on for Mandzukic, Raul Garcia—who, like Turan, returned from suspension—replaced Griezmann, while Tiago was substituted for Mario Suarez. 

Atletico Madrid
Almeria
Player	Rating
Miguel Angel Moya	7.1
Juanfran	7.0
Diego Godin	8.2
Miranda	7.4
Guilherme Siqueira	7.0
Gabi	8.2
Tiago	7.6
Saul Niguez	8.7
Arda Turan	7.8
Antoine Griezmann	8.6
Mario Mandzukic	8.9
Fernando Torres (sub 59')	6.1
Raul Garcia (sub 64')	6.2
Mario Suarez (sub 71')	6.2
Player	Rating
Julian	6.1
Michel Macedo	6.3
Mauro Dos Santos	5.8
Angel Trujillo	6.6
Sebastian Dubarbier	6.4
Fran Velez	6.1
Verza	5.6
Thievy Bifouma	5.9
Corona	6.1
Edgar	6.2
Tommer Hemed	6.0
Fernando Soriano (sub 46')	6.4
Wellington (sub 71')	6.2
Casado (sub 76')	6.0

The only blemish on the evening for the home side was Guilherme Siqueira's late sending off, after referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz showed the Brazilian his second yellow card of the game for what he deemed was a deliberate handball.

It's highly likely that Atletico will appeal his red card, given that replays showed the decision to be incorrect. 

That aside, it was a routine evening for the defending Spanish champions, who moved three points closer to Barcelona and now sit four points behind Real Madrid, who travel southeast on Sunday to face Elche at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.