Memphis Depay scored a long-range goal for Atletico Madrid in the second half of their LaLiga match against newly promoted Granada on Monday. This goal helped Atletico Madrid beat Granada 3-1 at home.
Alvaro Morata’s goal in the first half gave Atletico the lead, and Marcos Llorente’s late goal against last year’s LaLiga2 winners was the icing on the cake.
At the Metropolitano Stadium, the home team controlled, but they missed a lot of chances. Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco caused a lot of trouble for Granada, who parked the bus and didn’t try to score in the first half.
In the 18th minute, Rodrigo De Paul missed an easy goal from close range, and Morata missed three great chances before he finally broke the game.
In the extra time before halftime, he scored with a neat finish inside the box. Jesus Vallejo gave him the ball when he made a funny mistake while trying to clear a cross.
In the second half, Atletico was again the better team, but Depay missed a great chance when he shot wide from close range at the 60-minute mark.
In the 62nd minute, when it looked like the home team was going to make its lead bigger, Granada’s Samuel Omorodion tied the game.
After Carrasco lost control of the ball on the edge of his own area, Gonzalo Villar set up Omorodion to score from close range on their first shot on goal.
But five minutes later, replacement Depay put Atletico back in front when he fired a rocket shot from a long distance that couldn’t be stopped and went into the top left corner of the net.
Llorente won the game on his own with a smart move eight minutes into extra time. He picked up a loose ball inside the box and beat the goalie, Andre Ferreira.
“We saw how tough LaLiga is tonight and over the weekend. “It’s very hard, and all the teams are very good,” Diego Simeone, the boss of Atletico, told Movistar Plus.
“In the first half, we played well against a strong opponent, but we made a mistake that let them tie the game.
“Then Memphis made a great goal. I’m glad for him because he’s worked hard and deserves it. Morata and Memphis are people we trust. Our power comes from the boxes.”
Atletico’s only problem was that their leader, Koke, got hurt in the leg early in the first half and had to leave the game.