Celta Vigo – Granada 2:1 (end) | Atlético – Espanyol 1:0 (end) | Betis – Malaga 3:0 (end)
final
Atlético Madrid
1:0 (1:0)
RCD Espanyol Barcelona
Sunday 24.02.2013, 19:00 • LaLiga
     
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    Due to the goal via penalty shot by Falcao in the first half Atlético win the match against Espanyol with 1-0 despite playing with a man less during the whole second half after Gabi was sent off for his second yellow card.

    For Atlético it was the 13th win at home in Primera División this season in as many games! Not even FC Barcelona or Real Madrid were as good in their own stadiums. With this win Atlético have restored the four-point advantage towards their archrivals and city neighbours Real.
     
    Game over.
     
    90+4
    Courtois again with problems after a cross but he gets a free kick as there was a little push against him.
     
    90+3
    Raúl García with a shot from the border of the guest area, hits the side netting!
     
    90+2
    Víctor Sánchez (Espanyol) gets a yellow card for a very unnecessary foul from behind against Falcao.
     
    90
    Four minutes are added to the game.
     
    90
    Longo with a push from behind against Miranda deep in the Atlético half. The execution of the following free kick lets Atlético take a few more seconds off the clock.
     
    89
    Great through ball for Falcao. The Colombian striker was through and in the 1-on-1 he tried it with a lob against Casilla. Easy save for him!
     
    88
    Colotto with a volley from about 20 metres distance after a cross from the left wing. The ball goes wide significantly.
     
    87
    Diego Costa leaves the pitch with standing ovations. His substitute is Raúl García.
     
    85
    Cristian Rodríguez with a nice solo past two defenders in front of the guest area, his shot is blocked for a corner.
     
    83
    Atlético don't clear the ball and it comes to Stuani whose shot from a short distance is blocked by a defender! What a chance for the guests!
     
    82
    Verdú with a shot from the left side of the Atlético box, no danger for Courtois.
     
    81
    Arda Turan leaves the pitch, Cristián Rodríguez is in for him for the last minutes.
     
    80
    Long solo run by Falcao, goes past the last man but then he was stopped by Casilla.
     
    78
    Longo (Espanyol) gets a yellow card for a foul against Falcao.
     
    76
    Cross by the guests from the left wing and again Courtois had tremendous problems to get the ball away! He boxed it just towards an Espanyol player... This happens when you have really nothing to do the whole match.
     
    74
    Espanyol still not with total offense. Time is working against them, so they should not wait too long.
     
    72
    The hosts are waiting for counters. By now playing with one player less for a long time has an effect.
     
    69
    Atlético strengthen their defense. Mario Suárez is the new man on the pitch. He replaces Koke.
     
    67
    Huge mistake by Courtois . After a cross from the right half field he boxed the ball away with one fist and the net was empty for a moment. The shot by Javi López then was blocked!
     
    66
    Espanyol with their second change. Petrov is in for Simao - change veteran against veteran.
     
    64
    Diego Costa with a great counter over the left wing but in the end he had no power anymore to give a precise cross pass to Falcao.
     
    62
    Sergio García with a shot from the second row, goes ten metres high...
     
    61
    Espanyol seem to finally understand that they have one man more on the field. They try it with offense.
     
    59
    Combination between Koke and Diego Costa but the Brazilian striker couldn't stop the ball at the endline.
     
    58
    Colotto (Espanyol) avoids a counter with a foul against Diego Costa, sees the next yellow card.
     
    56
    Arda Turan (Atlético) gets a yellow card for a tactical foul from the side to stop a possible Espanyol counter.
     
    56
    Falcao with a solo against three defenders but he loses the ball to Javi López.
     
    54
    Distance shot by Tiago. The ball was deflected by a defender and went just wide past the left post.
     
    53
    Espanyol with the chance for a fast attack but the new man Longo plays a terrible pass into the feet of an opponent.
     
    52
    Diego Costa sends the ball to Tiago from the right side of the six-yard box but Colotto clears at cost of a corner.
     
    51
    After a corner from the right side by Atlético was cleared several of the home side's players stood offside during the try to get the ball back into the Espanyol area.
     
    50
    Espanyol with their first change. Longo enters the pitch for the already booked Forlín.
     
    49
    A long ball is deflected by an Atlético player for the first Espanyol corner of the second half but this one stays harmless.
     
    47
    Free kick cross from the left half field by the hosts, caught by Casilla.
     
    46
    The match just re-started and the fouls already begin again. Forlín jumped into the back of Falcao.
     
    46
    Start of 2nd half.
     
    In the first 45 minutes Atlético Madrid had the better chances. Result of their dominance was the lead through Falcao via penalty shot. The guests Espanyol had a lot of luck that Casilla and Moreno only received yellow cards for fouls as last men while Gabi on the other side was sent off in the additional time for his second yellow card so that the game stays close and anything can happen.
     
    1st halftime finished.
     
    45+4
    Gabi (Atlético) sees his second yellow card for a foul in the midfield and is sent off just before the end of the additional time of the first half...
     
    45+3
    Atlético are looking for the hole in the Espanyol defense but can't really find one.
     
    45+1
    Nice cross by Arda Turan for Diego Costa whose header was blocked in the last moment but he also was offside!
     
    45
    Four minutes have been added to the first half due to the Casilla injury.
     
    44
    Koke with a corner from the left side towards the near post, cleared by the defense.
     
    42
    Arda Turan wins a ball back in front of the guest area, gives it to Falcao but the Colombian's shot just found the middle of the net where Casilla waited.
     
    41
    Cross from the right side of the guest area for Falcao but he didn't reach it. In the middle an Espanyol defender let the ball through and the game continues with a goal kick.
     
    40
    Simao gets the ball inside the Atlético area and Godín gives him a little push from the side to win the ball. No penalty shot.
     
    38
    Long ball for Falcao, Casilla left his net and intercepted the pass!
     
    37
    Goal for Atlético!

    FALCAO with a precise and hard penalty shot into the left bottom corner, scores the 1-0 for Atlético!
     
    36
    Héctor Moreno (Espanyol) gets a yellow card for his foul. Lot of luck for him.
     
    36
    Penalty shot for Atlético Madrid after a foul by Héctor Moreno from the side as last man against Diego Costa!
     
    35
    Miranda blocks Sergio García just in front of the Atlético area but the referee doesn't give him a free kick.
     
    33
    Stuani (Espanyol) also gets a yellow card for the fight.
     
    33
    Gabi (Atlético) was booked for the subsequent fight.
     
    33
    Tiago (Atlético) gets a yellow card for a very hard foul from behind in the midfield.
     
    33
    Oh my god. Several players hit each other after a hard foul in the midfield.
     
    31
    Free kick from the left half field, the ball is extended via headed and Miranda failed with a volley from short distance but he was offside anyway.
     
    29
    Foul from behind by Gabi against Simao in the midfield.
     
    28
    The game continues and so does Casilla. I doubt he will stay on the pitch much longer as he was bleeding heavily inside his mouth.
     
    27
    Casilla is still bleeding and the back up goalie warms up.
     
    25
    There is a break now because the Espanyol medical staff looks after Casilla.
     
    24
    Long ball for Falcao but he was offside. Casilla had left his net to clear the ball and hit the Colombian striker but received a face injury himself.
     
    22
    Clear intentional handball by Sergio García inside the Atlético area when he wanted to stop the ball in the air. No card. Luck for him.
     
    21
    Long cross by the hosts from the left wing, Casilla caught the ball before Diego Costa could get it.
     
    19
    Nice combination by the guests over three players but Verdú with the loss of the ball against Juanfran at the Atlético area.
     
    18
    Next interesting situation. Arda Turan goes down inside the Espanyol area but the referee says his opponent played the ball.
     
    17
    Cross by Diego Costa into the arms of Casilla.
     
    16
    By now the guests barely cross the center line. They concentrate on defense and wait for counters.
     
    14
    The following free kick from the right side of the guest area by Gabi came to Godín whose header went over the crossbar!
     
    13
    Casilla (Espanyol) gets a yellow card! Diego Costa was through alone after a perfect through ball, tried to get around Casilla in the 1-on-1 and the goal keeper clearly fouled the Brazilian striker as the last man! He should be happy not to have been sent off!
     
    12
    Flat cross pass from the left wing by the home side. Intercepted by a defender.
     
    11
    Diego Costa with a long run over the left wing. Only gets a throw in.
     
    9
    Filipe Luis nutmegs Javi López and goes down then in the guest area in the duel with him. No penalty shot signals the referee.
     
    8
    Another foul against Diego Costa. The free kick from the right half field by Koke came to Falcao who tried it with a diving header from the border of the 18-yard box - quite optimistic.
     
    6
    Forlín (Espanyol) gets the first yellow card of the game for a tactical foul in the midfield against Diego Costa who would have been through for a counter.
     
    5
    Atlético are slowly trying to find into this match.
     
    3
    The following free kick by Simao just hit the wall.
     
    2
    Colotto with a shot close to the Atlético 18-yard box. The shot was blocked but he was also fouled.
     
    1
    After a couple of seconds Diego Costa already received a minor injury without the influence of an opponent.
     
    1
    Game started.
     
    Starting lineups:

    Atlético Madrid: Courtois - Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, F. Luis - Koke, Tiago, Gabi, A. Turan - Falcao, D. Costa

    Espanyol Barcelona: Casilla - Capdevila, H. Moreno, Colotto, J. López - Forlín, Verdú, Stuani - S. García

    Referees: Clos Gómez
     
    Atlético Madrid are second in Primera División with 53 points in 24 games. As they have a 15-point deficit towards league leaders FC Barcelona and 13 points more than Valencia CF on the Champions League qualification spot, most of the tension is out of their season for them. Only real aim stays to defend the one-point advantage towards archrivals Real Madrid. Their guests Espanyol Barcelona are 12th with 31 points and have still chances for a European spot.

    After a negative trend in away matches Atlético have come back with a 3-0 win in Valladolid in the league and a 1-0 win in Europea league when they travelled to Russia to face Rubin Kazan. Due to the 0-2 lossin the first leg at home they are out of the competition and it will be interesting to see how they react. Espanyol only lost one of their last 11 (!) matches, a 0-4 in Camp Nou against city rivals FC Barcelona. In the last six matches they even earned 16 out of 18 possible points which let them build a large distance towards the relegation zone and cut the deficit towards the European spots signfiicantly.

    The head-to-head record is clearly in favour of Atlético, especially during home games. In 71 Primera División away games against Atlético, Espanyol only won 7.

    If Atlético continues their winning streak in league home matches or if Espanyol can extend their positive trend, we'll see soon.
     
    Welcome. Game starts at 18:00 GMT / 19:00 CET.
    Commentary by

    Dennis Mende

    Goals & lineups
    Goals: 37. Falcao (pen.)

    Cards:   33. Tiago (ATM), 33. Gabi (ATM), 56. Turan (ATM) - 6. Forlín (ESP), 13. Casilla (ESP), 33. Stuani (ESP), 36. Moreno (ESP), 58. Colotto (ESP), 78. Longo (ESP), 90+2. Sánchez (ESP)   45+4. Gabi (ATM)

    Atlético Madrid: Courtois - Juanfran, Miranda, Godín, F. Luis - Koke (69. M. Suárez), Tiago, Gabi, A. Turan (81. C. Rodríguez) - Falcao, D. Costa (87. R. García)
    RCD Espanyol Barcelona: Casilla - Capdevila, H. Moreno, Colotto, J. López - Forlín (50. Longo), V. Sánchez - Simao (66. Petrov), Verdú, Stuani - S. García
    Referees: Clos Gómez