Antoine Griezmann scored a late penalty to give Atletico Madrid a 2-1 LaLiga home win over Real Sociedad on Sunday, in a match in which VAR was again under the spotlight following two contentious handball decisions.
2023/2024 La Liga
2-1
Match Report
The hosts dominated from the start and Samuel Lino opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a tidy finish between the goalkeeper and the near post after beating the offside trap following a brilliant long pass by Koke.
Atletico missed several chances, including two strikes off the post, one by Rodrigo de Paul and Axel Witsel from point-blank range, but Sociedad slowly started to take control of the match and almost scored when Mikel Oyarzabal's shot hit Jan Oblak's left upright.
In the 67th minute, referee Munuera Montero spent several minutes in a lengthy VAR check for a possible handball inside the box, but decided there had been no infringement.
The visitors equalised through Oyarzabal following a 73rd-minute counter-attack and Oblak made two crucial saves to prevent them from taking the lead.
Atletico were given a lifeline when the referee spotted a handball by Sociedad's Carlos Fernandez in the 86th minute and Griezmann slotted home the penalty to earn his side the three points.
The Sociedad players and coach Imanol Aguacil were furious, complaining vociferously to referee Munuera Montero as Fernandez had his back to the play when Griezmann's shot hit his arm.
"When the referee decides, in the end it's going to be complicated, but football continues. You have to set rules and not leave it to the referee's interpretation. Today he whistled in our favour and we won. It won't always be like that," Griezmann told DAZN.
"Sometimes the referee sees it clearly and sometimes he does not. Maybe the referee has slept badly and doesn't feel like interpreting right or wrong. You have to set rules."
Atletico, who have a game in hand, moved up to 19 points from eight games and are fourth in the standings, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Match Events
0' KICK-OFF! Who can win this match?
20' CHANCE! De Paul's shot saved
22' GOAL! Atletico 1-0 Real Sociedad (Samuel Lino)
44' OFF THE POST! De Paul nearly nets
46' OFF THE POST AGAIN! Witsel nearly scores
48' Yellow Card! Koke booked
68' VAR confirms there is no penalty for Morata handball
73' GOAL! Atletico 1-1 Real Sociedad (Oyarzabal)
89' Penalty Goal! Atletico 2-1 Real Sociedad (Griezmann)
Line-ups
Atletico XI: Witsel, Azpilicueta, Oblak, Griezmann, Morata, Koke, De Paul, Hermoso, Llorente, Nahuel Molina, Samuel Lino
Subs: Savic, Saul , Ivo Grbic, Javi Galán, Riquelme, Aitor Gismera, Ilias Kostis, Antonio Gomis, Salim El Jebari, Adrián Niño
Real Sociedad XI: H.Traore, Álex Remiro, Robin Le Normand, Mendez, Merino, Oyarzabal, Zubeldía, Takefusa Kubo, Martín Zubimendi, Aihen Muñoz, Ander Barrenetxea
Subs: Andre Silva, Carlos Fernández, Odriozola, Elustondo, Umar, Jon Ander Olasagasti, Beñat Turrientes, Jon Pacheco, Arsen Zakharyan, Unai Marrero, Urko González, Jon Magunazelaia