Antoine Griezmann, Saul Niguez Fire Atletico Madrid to Routine Win at Cordoba

First-half goals from Antoine Griezmann and Saul Niguez earned Atletico Madrid a comfortable 2-0 victory over Cordoba at the Nuevo Arcangel on Saturday, as Diego Simeone's side temporarily leapfrogged Valencia to move into third place on La Liga's table. 

Following a barren month in March in which he went goalless, Griezmann responded to his manager's demand to the media for a greater output, capitalising on a mistake from Bruno Zuculini to break into space and fire home Atleti's opener in just the fifth minute. 

The visitors then doubled their lead just prior to half-time. From a long throw-in, Jesus Gamez found the head of Jose Gimenez, whose flick-on header was directed perfectly into the path of Saul, who capitalised on poor marking from Cordoba to steer home Atletico's 22nd headed goal of the season, according to La Liga en numerous (via Dermot Corrigan). 

Against a side that entered Saturday's clash with just 20 goals from 28 league games, the lead never felt in danger, as the defending champions cruised to the final whistle to secure a second straight victory in the Primera Division. 

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For Atleti, the win was a perfect way to celebrate Simeone's contract renewal that came during the international break after the 2-0 home victory over Getafe. When the Argentinian addressed the media after penning his new five-year deal, he cited the club's movement "forward" as a major reason behind the extension of his tenure. 

A significant component of that upward trajectory is the club's ongoing presence in the Champions League—something that Saturday's victory might help to prolong given how tight the race for European places is in Spain's top division. 

Of course, Atletico's quest for a strong start to the season's final phase after the international break was significantly aided by the hosts' need to field a vastly changed back four. 

After seeing Aleksandar Pantic, Inigo Lopez and Dani Pinillos all sent off against Real Sociedad last time out (yes, Cordoba finished that clash with eight men), new manager Jose Antonio Romero was forced to use left-back Jose Angel Crespo and midfielder Rene Krhin in a makeshift pairing in the centre of his defence. 

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Such a dramatic change had the expected effect, as Cordoba's shaky defending had a large part to play in the two-goal deficit they found themselves in by half-time. 

Still, though, a resilient and positive crowd continued to throw their support behind the home side, which was commendable given that Saturday's match marked Cordoba's 10th straight league defeat—a number now just one short of the all-time La Liga record of 11 held by Las Palmas. 

But this was a match that witnessed a very characteristic Atletico performance: tight at the back, strong in midfield and threatening on both the counter-attack and at set pieces. 

Those traits were made evident by the game's statistics. In open play, Cordoba enjoyed the bulk of possession at 57.2 percent, per WhoScored.com, and also enjoyed an 11-8 shots advantage over the visitors. 

Yet despite that, it was Atleti who created the game's defining chances, with Diego Godin coming close to scoring twice with headed attempts in addition to the goals from Griezmann and Saul. 

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Cordoba
Atletico Madrid
Player	Rating
Juan Carlos	6.0
Adrian Gunino	6.0
Rene Krhin	6.3
Jose Angel Crespo	7.7
Edimar	6.5
Abel	6.3
Bruno Zuculini	5.0
Bebe	6.6
Borja	6.7
Fidel	5.9
Florin Andone	5.8
Nabil Ghilas (sub 46')	6.6
Fede Cartabia (sub 46')	6.8
Heldon (sub 64')	6.2
Player	Rating
Jan Oblak	7.2
Juanfran	6.8
Jose Gimenez	8.5
Diego Godin	8.0
Jesus Gamez	8.8
Saul Niguez	8.2
Tiago	7.3
Gabi	7.0
Koke	7.1
Antoine Griezmann	8.1
Mario Mandzukic	6.9
Mario Suarez (sub 46')	6.8
Fernando Torres (sub 62')	6.1
Arda Turan (sub 70')	6.2

Atletico's victory was made more important by Sevilla's 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao earlier in the day that ensured the Andalusians remained within striking distance of the top four. 

And with Valencia in action against Villarreal on Sunday, Simeone's men could have wrested back third place on the table by the weekend's conclusion. 

For Cordoba, however, Saturday's result leaves the league newcomers staring at almost certain relegation.