[La Liga] Atletico Madrid - La Coruna (1 Viewer)
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La Primera Saturday Wrap: Atléti Fight For Victory, Athletic Win
Atlético Madrid showed a renewed fighting spirit as they plugged away to earn crucial home victory against Deportivo, while Athletic Bilbao helped their relegation battle with a win over Getafe and Cádiz and Racing shared the points in their encounter.
Pepe Murcia has been handed the reins at El Calderón until the end of the current campaign after the exit of Carlos Bianchi and after the new boss' early showing he could well land the job on a permanent basis.
Los Colchoneros have folded so many times this season at important moments that the spirit and determination shown to record a 3-2 home win against Depor will come as a refreshing change for their long-suffering supporters.
It was not always pretty and the visiting Galicians may well feel that they deserved something from the match, but the new Atléti no longer allow teams that late equaliser that was synonymous with Biachi's time in charge.
Maxi Rodríguez opened the scoring 11 minutes before the break as he volleyed home a high centre from Martin Petrov, but the nerves were still there for all to see.
Just two minutes after the break Depor were level as Rubén Castro drew his side level and it looked like being the same old story for Atléti.
A stroke of inspiration was needed and it arrived in style after 54 minutes when Antonio López lifted a 25-yard free-kick over the Depor wall and into the top corner of José Molina's net.
Once again though the joy was short-lived as Joaquín Caparrós' side applied the pressure for all of five minutes and once again pulled themselve sback into the match as Joan Capdevila stooped to head home from close range after a corner had been flicked into his path.
Atlético were full of running and showed their usual willingness to press forward, but there was something extra in their stride as they looked purposeful rather than letting their heads drop after being pegged back for a second time.
The third goal arrived at the perfect time as Petrov lifted the ball into the middle from the by-line where Maxi cleverly flicked it with the outside of his boot past the stranded Molina.
They had learned their lesson this time as Depor were unable to draw level for a third time, despite some late flurries and the home side held on for what could be a crucial result in their season.
Javier Clemente did not need to make attention distracting statements after his team's game against Getafe in San Mamés as the Basque Country side recorded a rare victory as they won 1-0.
The only goal of the encounter may have been a penalty, that was despatched by Pablo Orbaiz, but it was enough to lift Athletic clear of the bottom three, for 24 hours at least, and show them avoiding the drop is feasible.
Cádiz may have to begin looking over their shoulders if they are to avoid a quick return to Spain's second tier after their 1-1 draw at home to Racing Santander.
The Andalucian outfit are only three points above the drop zone and a draw at home to a mid-table outfit did not do their hopes of securing a second consecutive season in the top flight any good.
The Cantabrians took the lead in the 66th minute when Armando raced from his goal and clipped the legs of Sergio Matabuena inside the area and Felipe Melo duly steered home the resulting penalty.
Cádiz fought back and levelled through an unexpected source as Raúl López stole forward and fired a low shot into the far corner of the net to record only his third goal in nine seasons and his first for Cádiz since the 2000-01 campaign.
Raped from goal.com
Atlético Madrid showed a renewed fighting spirit as they plugged away to earn crucial home victory against Deportivo, while Athletic Bilbao helped their relegation battle with a win over Getafe and Cádiz and Racing shared the points in their encounter.
Pepe Murcia has been handed the reins at El Calderón until the end of the current campaign after the exit of Carlos Bianchi and after the new boss' early showing he could well land the job on a permanent basis.
Los Colchoneros have folded so many times this season at important moments that the spirit and determination shown to record a 3-2 home win against Depor will come as a refreshing change for their long-suffering supporters.
It was not always pretty and the visiting Galicians may well feel that they deserved something from the match, but the new Atléti no longer allow teams that late equaliser that was synonymous with Biachi's time in charge.
Maxi Rodríguez opened the scoring 11 minutes before the break as he volleyed home a high centre from Martin Petrov, but the nerves were still there for all to see.
Just two minutes after the break Depor were level as Rubén Castro drew his side level and it looked like being the same old story for Atléti.
A stroke of inspiration was needed and it arrived in style after 54 minutes when Antonio López lifted a 25-yard free-kick over the Depor wall and into the top corner of José Molina's net.
Once again though the joy was short-lived as Joaquín Caparrós' side applied the pressure for all of five minutes and once again pulled themselve sback into the match as Joan Capdevila stooped to head home from close range after a corner had been flicked into his path.
Atlético were full of running and showed their usual willingness to press forward, but there was something extra in their stride as they looked purposeful rather than letting their heads drop after being pegged back for a second time.
The third goal arrived at the perfect time as Petrov lifted the ball into the middle from the by-line where Maxi cleverly flicked it with the outside of his boot past the stranded Molina.
They had learned their lesson this time as Depor were unable to draw level for a third time, despite some late flurries and the home side held on for what could be a crucial result in their season.
Javier Clemente did not need to make attention distracting statements after his team's game against Getafe in San Mamés as the Basque Country side recorded a rare victory as they won 1-0.
The only goal of the encounter may have been a penalty, that was despatched by Pablo Orbaiz, but it was enough to lift Athletic clear of the bottom three, for 24 hours at least, and show them avoiding the drop is feasible.
Cádiz may have to begin looking over their shoulders if they are to avoid a quick return to Spain's second tier after their 1-1 draw at home to Racing Santander.
The Andalucian outfit are only three points above the drop zone and a draw at home to a mid-table outfit did not do their hopes of securing a second consecutive season in the top flight any good.
The Cantabrians took the lead in the 66th minute when Armando raced from his goal and clipped the legs of Sergio Matabuena inside the area and Felipe Melo duly steered home the resulting penalty.
Cádiz fought back and levelled through an unexpected source as Raúl López stole forward and fired a low shot into the far corner of the net to record only his third goal in nine seasons and his first for Cádiz since the 2000-01 campaign.
Raped from goal.com