Antoine Griezmann came off the bench to score twice and steer Atletico Madrid to a 3-1 victory over Levante in La Liga on Saturday, keeping Diego Simeone’s men firmly in the top-four race. The French forward, who has started only one of Atletico’s last five matches, made an instant impact after being introduced just past the hour mark. He scored 28 seconds after coming on, which was incidetally the fastest goal by a substitute in La Liga in the past decade. He then went on to sealin the win late on. Atletico took the lead in the 12th minute when Pablo Barrios’ cross-shot was parried by goalkeeper Mathew Ryan onto defender Adrian de la Fuente and into the net for an own goal. Levante hit back quickly as Manu Sanchez headed in from a corner in the 21st minute, becoming the first player to score against Atletico in four league matches. Simeone turned to Griezmann midway through the second half, and the veteran forward responded immediately, finishing from close range after Marcos Llorente’s cutback to restore Atletico’s advantage.
Atletico are fourth in La Liga after Villarreal climbed to second late on Saturday. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
Levante came close to equalising through Goduine Koyalipou, but Jan Oblak produced a strong save to keep the hosts in front. Griezmann then grabbed his second of the night with 10 minutes left, pouncing on a rebound after Ryan had denied Julian Alvarez. Levante thought they had reduced the deficit in stoppage time through Carlos Alvarez, but the goal was ruled out for offside against Matias Moreno. “It’s hard for us to find solutions sometimes, but those of us who come on from the bench are always bringing a boost,” Griezmann told Movistar. “Teams that go far in all competitions do that because they have good depth, and we all have to be ready.” Reflecting on his limited starts, he added: “I prefer to play, in the end when you’re a player you want to play… but I accept it, I am a professional and I have to continue like this to support my team-mates.”
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The win provisionally lifted Atletico into third place ahead of Villarreal’s late fixture, while Levante remain hovering above the relegation zone.Afterwards, Villarreal took second spot in the standings, with Barcelona third and Atletico just behind, with 25 points in 12 games. Real Madrid lead the pack with 30 points in 11 league outings.
