THOMAS PARTEY SCORED a last-minute winner as Atletico Madrid came from two goals down to maintain their perfect start to the La Liga season with a 3-2 victory against Eibar.
The home side looked set to drop points in this evening’s match after conceding twice inside the opening 20 minutes of a home league game under Diego Simeone for the first time, with Charles and Anaitz Arbilla defying the form book at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Joao Felix scored his first La Liga goal to start the comeback before the half-hour and Vitolo, introduced at the interval, dragged his side back on to level terms early in the second half against an Eibar side still without a win this season.
Los Rojiblancos carved out 1-0 victories over Getafe and Leganes in their initial matches and they showed true fighting spirit as Thomas Partey poked home to lift Atletico above Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla to the top of LaLiga.
Charles converted Fabian Orellana’s cross on the counter to give Eibar a seventh-minute lead and, after Diego Costa fired over the bar from close range, Arbilla doubled his side’s tally with 19 minutes played. The left-back’s powerful shot took a deflection off Jose Gimenez and Jan Oblak was unable to react.
It did not take long for Simeone’s men to respond, though, with Costa showing good strength in the box and returning the pass to Joao Felix for a simple finish into an empty net.
Atletico, who had a penalty appeal rejected before half-time when Joao Felix was seemingly clipped inside the box, brought on Vitolo for Marcos Llorente at the interval and that change proved inspired.
The lively Renan Lodi picked out Vitolo’s run and the attacker poked the ball past Marko Dmitrovic to level matters seven minutes into the second half.
It looked like being a day of frustration for Atletico when Costa had two goals ruled out for offside, only for another substitute, Thomas Partey, to pop up with a dramatic late winner.
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Have to hand it to the man, he has done a fantastic job with them, most managers of his caliber wouldn’t go near a team like Leicester, they usually only want clubs that can bring the very best players with alot of money in the bank and already have a team of stars. If they get champions league he is kind of manager that can attract star names for next season
I don’t think Ranieri’s stock was particularly high after being sacked from his last 3 jobs so to be honest, a mid to bottom of the table club in any league was always going to be the best he could get but credit where credit is due. I doubt Guardiola or Mourinho could have done a better job. The problems for Leicester will come next season. Will the players lose their hunger? Will they become big time charlies and demand wage increases? If they bring in better quality players, how will that effect team balance/moral, etc…
Top 4 is a near certainty hopefully at the very least top 3 so they go straight into the champions league, adding about 8 players has to be done at least with the extra games and the increased pressure on them , honestly I don’t fancy their chances of doing anything similar next season I hope they prove me wrong but they need to add to the squad
Beano, every manager with a bit of experience, comes to his interview, having been sacked from his last number of jobs, this man is just a breath of fresh air , and it’s showing in the performances, the players get it, they are enjoying themselves , and I think they will win that league, if they don’t it will not be because they freeze it will be because Spurs are coming into form.
I don’t think Leicester will win the league. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve been brilliant and deserve all the credit they get but if you read some of the media you would think they were 5 or 10 points in the lead! If City win this weekend, which I think they will, they’ll go top and I honestly believe they’ll stay there until the end of the season.
Wait for it ………Leicester next home game and all the fans holding up signs saying ……….YES WE CAN . But I really hope they win it . Ranieri is a class act .
‘Never did I blame them and say we conceded this goal because you did this and this’ Take note Gary Neville
A point at City would be a great result at this stage and I wouldn’t put it past them. De Bruyne out is a boost too. It’s that time of year now where teams like Leicester will pick up points against The Gunners so my money would be on them for a result then.
Ranieri for United