Las Palmas 1 Atletico Madrid 5: No Griezmann, no problem as Koke scores two stunners

Atletico Madrid star Koke scored two magnificent goals in the second half to seal Atletico Madrid's 5-1 win over Las Palmas.

Published : Aug 27, 2017 13:31 IST

Koke scored two stunning goals as Atletico Madrid overcame the absence of Antoine Griezmann to romp to a 5-1 away win over Las Palmas in La-Liga.

Diego Simeone's men claimed their first league victory of the new season – and the 200th of his managerial career at the club – without the suspended Griezmann, who was sent off in last week's 2-2 draw against Girona.

A fast start ensured the visitor was not in danger of dropping further points on Saturday, Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco strikes putting Atletico two goals up inside the first five minutes.

Jonathan Calleri headed in as Las Palmas briefly threatened a second-half fight-back, but Koke sealed victory with two tremendous efforts.

Jonathan Viera had a late penalty for the host saved by Jan Oblak, before Thomas Partey netted with two minutes left to round off a miserable evening for the host.

Atletico now has four points from its first two games , while Las Palmas has suffered back-to-back defeats to start the campaign, a run that stretches to seven straight losses including the end of last season.

Atletico took the lead in the third minute with its first attack, Correa collecting a deflected flick from his strike partner Luciano Vietto before showing rapid footwork to evade two Las Palmas defenders and send his finish into the far corner, his quick strike taking home keeper Leandro Chichizola by surprise.

And it was two for Simeone's men just 118 seconds later, with Carrasco collecting a pass from Saul Niguez, tricking his way past defender David Simon and firing into the far corner with a left-footed finish.

Las Palmas threatened for the first time when a bouncing effort from Viera was pushed to safety by Oblak.

But the Atletico goalkeeper was otherwise untroubled in a first half that concluded with home fans calling for Vietto, already booked, to receive a second yellow for a foul on Viera.

Vietto committed another foul early in the second half , prompting Simeone to replace him with Gabi and switch to a five-man midfield.

The host got a goal back in the 58th minute, Calleri heading in after finding space behind Diego Godin after Momo whipped in a wonderful cross from the left.

But the comeback was snuffed out inside four minutes, Koke curling a magnificent strike into the far corner from 20 yards after Pedro Bigas had made a hash of clearing Carrasco's cross.

In the 75th minute, Koke scored in spectacular fashion again , sealing his first career double. Carrasco weaved into the box and was challenged by Mauricio Lemos as he shot, the ball bouncing into the path of the Spain international to produce an instinctive overhead kick.

Las Palmas had the chance for a consolation when Gabi clumsily fouled Viera in the box, but when the attacking midfielder took the resulting spot-kick himself, Oblak made an impressive save.

Atletico wrapped up an impressive evening with a fifth, Koke dummying Carrasco's cutback to allow Thomas to find the far corner with a strike from 20 yards that took a slight deflection.

 

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