Soccer Football - LaLiga - Atletico Madrid v Leganes - Civitas Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - October 20, 2024 Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann in action with Leganes' Seydouba Cisse REUTERS/Ana Beltran
MADRID (Reuters) -Atletico Madrid forward Alexander Sorloth scored twice in the second half as they fought back to earn a 3-1 victory against visitors Leganes in LaLiga on Sunday.
Winless in their previous three games in all competitions with a series of lacklustre performances, Atletico had to recover from a goal down after Cameroon midfielder Yvan Neyou gave Leganes the lead in the 34th minute with a superb strike into the top corner.
Atletico's Metropolitano stadium was partially closed as a punishment after their Sept. 29 home match against Real Madrid was suspended due to items being thrown onto the pitch.
Atletico dominated possession throughout the match but were toothless as half-chances went begging for Rodrigo Riquelme, Angel Correa and Sorloth.
They were lucky Leganes didn't extend their lead as the visitors wasted two great opportunities from counters early in the second half, with Correa missing a sitter from close range in the 52nd minute, striking wide after a bad mistake by the Leganes defence.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone made five substitutions and that gave the home side the spark they seemed to be lacking.
As they piled on the pressure, Sorloth finally equalised with a cheeky back-heel from an Axel Witsel cross in the 69th minute before Antoine Griezmann cleverly chipped a cross past the goalkeeper into the back of the net 11 minutes later.
Rodrigo de Paul almost scored the third with a strike from inside the box in the 77th minute that was almost deflected over the goalline by a defender, but it was Sorloth who wrapped up the win with a close-range strike from a rebound deep in added time.
"It was very important win for us, I think we played a good game," Witsel told Movistar Plus.
"In the first half we lacked intensity with the ball in the final metres. They hadn't created any danger except for the goal. In the second half we fought, we put in more pace and we managed to come back."
Atletico, who will face Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday, climbed to third in the standings on 20 points, four behind Real Madrid in second and leaders Barcelona, who have a game in hand and will host Sevilla later on Sunday.
(Reporting by Fernando KallasEditing by Toby Davis)
