Atletico Madrid dropped points in their pursuit of the LaLiga Santander title as they were held to a 0-0 draw with ten men Getafe at the Colosseum Alfonso Perez.
David Soria played an important role in securing a point for Getafe, saving you several times over the course of the evening. His first saw him deny Yannick Carrasco with his legs in the first half.
Jan Oblak had a few moments at the Colosseum myself. Nemanja Maksimovic almost gave the hosts a lead in the first half after Atletico’s goalkeeper parried Carles Alenahas been shot.
After tightening Joao Felix during half time, Diego Simeone waited until halfway through the second period to make his second, third and fourth substitutions.
One of those, Renan Lodi, was at the end of a strong challenge Allan Nyom, who saw red after the subsequent VAR review.
With a man advantage, Atletico pushed for a winning goal. Deputy Moussa Dembele it almost delivered, but his volley was expertly stopped by Soria.
It was Luis Suarez who came closest to the Getafe goalkeeper, who couldn’t get close to the Uruguayan’s lob back from the post. Marcos Llorente drove over after the ball then fell loose in the penalty area.
With just seconds left from normal time, Lodi found Dembele with a precise cross, only for January’s signing to somehow miss the mark with his header.
In the end, the winner escaped Los Rojiblancos as they failed to take their eight point lead Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga Santander.
Zinedine ZidaneThe team is now within six points of the leaders after their victory over Elche. Monday evening Barcelona organizes Huesca knowing they can narrow the gap to the top to four points with a win.
As regards Getafe, they get five points from the relegation zone. They owe much of that to Soria and his defense.