Can Atletico Madrid's Thomas Partey Keep His Place After Copa del Rey Winner?

They came to the Vicente Calderon on Thursday night to watch Fernando Torres score his 100th goal for Atletico Madrid, but in the end they saw a player bag his first for the club.

Holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg at Catalan club Reus Deportiu two weeks ago, there was always going to be an altered look to Diego Simeone’s side for the second clash, with the Argentinian facing the difficult task of picking a team that could get the job done but also had a sprinkling of youth about it.

That meant 22-year-old Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey was always likely to make his fourth appearance of the season, and he was to mark it with the only goal as Atletico made it through to the last-16 with a minimum of fuss, winning 3-1 on aggregate.

And it was a fine goal, too, as the man known simply as “Thomas” controlled a volley from the very edge of the penalty area and sent it crashing into the bottom corner.

Perhaps dizzied by his goal, he was then booked two minutes later, but that wouldn’t have taken the shine off a landmark night for the midfielder, who will now be targeting a more regular first-team spot as Atletico’s season unfolds into what looks to be an exciting one.

Can he hold that place down, though?

Thomas is competing with the likes of Gabi, Saul Niguez, Koke and others for a place in Simeone’s midfield, but the injury to Tiago has at least opened up an opportunity for him.

If he is to eventually take it, then Reus could come to mark an important club in his career, as the team he made his first Atletico start against two weeks ago and now the one against whom he scored his first goal.

Throw in appearances off the bench in the Liga victories over Espanyol and Granada in the past few weeks, and you have a player who will feel as though he has contributed to Atletico’s current nine-match winning streak.

Thomas' loan spells at Mallorca in 2013/14 and Almeria last season showed him to be a combative midfield player who will need time to develop into a player who would be good enough for Atletico, with his 27 yellow cards and two reds over those two seasons highlighting a perceived naivety.

But loan spells are designed to iron out such flaws, and Thomas has since developed into a powerful presence in midfield, with comparisons drawn to his compatriot Michael Essien—a stalwart in midfield for Chelsea over many years before injuries took hold later in a career which also took in Lyon, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Indeed, there was something very Essien-like about Thomas’ goal against Reus, with his powerfully struck effort bisecting the defenders who’d ran to close him down and finding the bottom corner.

Such comparisons with top-class players perhaps do more harm than good, but Thomas will have impressed Simeone enough to enter his plans for clash at Malaga at the weekend, with ESPN FC’s Joseph Walker praising him highly while grading his performance an 8 out of 10.

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Walker noted:

“[He] was extremely busy on only his second start for the club, and was full of energy in the middle of the park. Showed wonderful technique to volley in the opener from the edge of the box and produced a number of driving runs. Has made a compelling case to get another start this weekend.”

Gabi, a late replacement for Angel Correa on Thursday night, might have a thing or two to say about that, but Thomas is at least adding to Simeone’s options ahead of a 2016 which is going to include a La Liga title challenge, a Champions League last-16 tie and more fixtures in the Copa del Rey.

Thomas could feature in all competitions, and if he goes on to have a successful career with Atletico, then plenty will look back at the fixture with Reus and say “I was there.”