'Finally!' - Morata relieved to end Atletico Madrid drought

Alvaro Morata believes Atletico Madrid will keep fighting Barcelona for the title, having finally scored his first goal for the club.

Alvaro Morata celebrates after scoring his first Atletico Marid goal.

Alvaro Morata admitted he did not initially celebrate his first goal for Atletico Madrid as he feared he would once more be disappointed by VAR.

The Spain striker swept home Filipe Luis' cross to break the deadlock in Sunday's 2-0 La Liga win over Villarreal at the Wanda Metropolitano.

READ | Atletico Madrid 2 Villarreal 0: Morata scores to keep title challenge on track

It ended a nine-game drought in league football for Morata, who had goals disallowed by VAR in the 3-1 loss to Real Madrid and 2-0 Champions League win over Juventus this month. The Chelsea loanee was relieved to see the officials allow him a moment to savour at last.

"Finally!" he said, as quoted by AS . "I'm very happy with the three points. It was important to get three points at our own stadium. I was joking with my team-mates and until I saw all the officials, I didn't celebrate it."

The win, which was secured by a late strike from Saul Niguez, moved Atletico back to within seven points of La Liga leader Barcelona. Morata insists it will not give up in the title race until it is mathematically beyond them.

"We'll have to wait. If we play like we're doing, all together, it's very tough to hurt us," he said. "Barcelona are a great team but we'll fight until the end, as long as there are points to play for."