Soccer Football - LaLiga - RCD Mallorca v Atletico Madrid - Estadi Mallorca Son Moix, Palma, Mallorca, Spain - November 10, 2024 Atletico Madrid's Giuliano Simeone celebrates after Julian Alvarez scores their first goal REUTERS/Francisco Ubilla
(Reuters) -Julian Alvarez scored a tap-in from a second-half counter attack to give pedestrian Atletico Madrid a dour 1-0 win at Real Mallorca in LaLiga on Sunday and earn Diego Simeone's side their fourth consecutive victory in all competitions.
Both sides were largely toothless in attack in a slow-paced match and struggled to produce scoring opportunities, before Atletico took advantage of a quick counter in the 61st minute.
Giuliano Simeone took a long pass from his goalkeeper Jan Oblak in his stride before beating the last defender in a fabulous run, luring out Mallorca keeper Dominik Greif and passing to Argentinian forward Alvarez to fire the ball into the empty net.
Atletico are third in the standings on 26 points, one behind Real Madrid in second and seven adrift of leaders Barcelona, who have a game in hand at Real Sociedad later on Sunday.
"We knew it was going to be difficult, we improved a bit in the second half and we took home three important points," Alvarez told DAZN after scoring his sixth goal for Atletico since signing from Manchester City in August in a deal worth some 75 million euros plus 20 million euros in potential add-ons.
"Today we didn't create so many clear chances but made the most of the ones we had and a clean sheet is important too, so we leave happy.
"I think you can always improve but I feel very good; my team mates and the coaching staff have helped me a lot so that I can adapt as quickly as possible and I am looking for the best version of myself."
After a tough October in which Atletico secured one victory in five matches in all competitions, including consecutive Champions League losses, the side were looking to build on momentum from their last-gasp 2-1 Champions League win at Paris St Germain in midweek and extend their winning run.
However, they were lethargic and generally lacked creativity against a Mallorca side who ended the match with six shots on target compared to only a couple from Atletico, who had Oblak to thank for stunning saves in each half.
Oblak made a one-handed save to palm a close-range header by Cyle Larin over the crossbar in the 41st minute and a brilliant reflex effort to block Abdon Prats from point blank in the 85th.
(Reporting by Fernando KallasEditing by Toby Davis and Clare Fallon)
