Atletico Madrid vs. Sporting Gijon: Winners and Losers from La Liga
Atletico Madrid left it late to see off Sporting Gijon at the Vicente Calderon.
A tricky clash looked like it was going to end goalless, but Antoine Griezmann struck in the third of four minutes in stoppage time to give Diego Simeone's side the points.
The win leaves Atletico Madrid third in La Liga, taking advantage of Celta Vigo's heavy defeat by Valencia on Saturday.
Here are your winners and losers from the clash.
Loser: Alen Halilovic
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Alen Halilovic is having a spectacular season.
The young Croatian, on loan from Barcelona, is improving week to week, enjoying plenty of game time and finding his feet in Spain's top flight.
He will have learnt some valuable lessons from this clash in Madrid, which means he's not necessarily a loser. But he had Sporting's best chance of the game, firing in a strike from the edge of the box which Jan Oblak superbly tipped away.
It was a good strike from the midfielder, but not a great one. That is what you need to produce to beat a goalkeeper like the Slovenian.
Halilovic will head back to the northwest of Spain knowing that if he had produced a better strike, his team might have left with a point or even three.
There's no way of knowing, of course, and it wasn't as if he fluffed his lines, but the best players will focus on moments like that and try to change them in the future. If Halilovic is to fulfil his huge potential, he will be doing just that.
Winner: Antoine Griezmann
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October was not a good month for Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman scored one brilliant goal, away at Real Sociedad, but for the most part stayed very quiet.
He was snuffled out in the Madrid derby while Yannick Ferreira Carrasco outshone him in Atletico's other clashes, so he would have been delighted to be the man to make the difference and hand Atletico a win against Sporting.
He never gave up, racing onto a long ball flicked on by Diego Godin to nod past the goalkeeper and earn victory.
He's still off his finest form, but this will be a big confidence boost after a four-game drought.
Loser: Jackson Martinez
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In contrast to Antoine Griezmann, Jackson Martinez's trouble in front of goal continued.
It seemed like he had found his shooting boots when he netted against Astana and Valencia in the Champions League and La Liga respectively, but that was not the case.
Jackson scored in his second game for the Rojiblancos before going on an eight-match streak without a goal.
As a €35million buy you expect more than that, so his aforementioned strikes were welcomed with open arms, with many heralding the real start of his time at the club.
Unfortunately, Jackson failed to score against Deportivo de la Coruna, as a substitute against Astana in the second European clash and then again against Sporting Gijon.
Truth be told, he didn't even come particularly close.
Winner: Abelardo Fernandez
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Abelardo Fernandez and his men lost. Sporting were defeated. But as painful as letting in a last-gasp goal will be, the former Barcelona player can be proud of what his team managed at the Vicente Calderon.
Atletico are formidable at home but Sporting matched them blow for blow, nearly taking a hard-earned point back to Asturias.
In the end, Antoine Griezmann's goal prevented that, but after having kept a clean sheet against Real Madrid, nearly doing the same against Atletico was a sign that things are going in the right direction at Sporting.
They are 14th in the table and with Alen Halilovic inspiring the side from midfield, it's not difficult to imagine them reaching even higher positions.
Loser: Diego Simeone
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When Antoine Griezmann scored, Simeone went wild. The Atletico manager belted it up the touchline, fist-pumping, screaming and generally having a whale of a time.
He was thrilled with the victory, but he really should be considering why it took such an effort to get the points against newly promoted Sporting.
Simeone's men were not creating many chances and that will be a problem for the Argentine coach.
He replaced Yannick Ferreira Carrasco with Oliver Torres, but perhaps he should have kept his more creative players on the pitch at the same time.
Some fans lamented the decision and Simeone said that it was normal the fans wouldn't like it, because he was playing well, per Spanish newspaper AS.
Asked if the result was fair, Simeone said, according to the same source, "The result is what it is. The celebration was normal. Even when you are playing games with your friends you celebrate. Imagine at this level!"
He may be able to explain himself well enough, but the reality is that games like these should be sewn up long before stoppage time.
