MADRID — Atletico Madrid returned to the top of the Spanish league Sunday after second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco secured a 2-0 win against Celta Vigo.
Griezmann scored from close range in the 49th minute after a nice exchange of passes with Luciano Vietto, and Carrasco sealed the victory in the 80th after getting past a couple of Celta defenders outside the area.
Atletico has 44 points, two more than Barcelona, which beat Granada 4-0 with a hat trick by Lionel Messi Saturday. Barcelona has a game in hand after playing in the Club World Cup late last year. Real Madrid, which routed Deportivo La Coruna 5-0 on Saturday in club great Zinedine Zidane’s first match as coach, is third with 40 points after 19 rounds.
There were few significant scoring chances in bad weather at the Balaidos in Vigo, but Griezmann’s goal was enough for Atletico to start relying on its solid defense. Atletico has the league’s best defense at the halfway stage of the season, having conceded only eight goals. It was the 14th league victory for Diego Simeone’s team, and eighth in its last nine matches. Its only setback during this run was a 1-0 loss at Malaga three rounds ago.
Earlier Sunday, striker Cedric Bakambu scored a goal in each half as fourth-place Villarreal defeated Sporting Gijon 2-0 to reach 39 points.
Bakambu scored in the 26th and 51st minutes at the Estadio El Madrigal to give Villarreal its sixth consecutive league victory.
Real Sociedad won 2-0 against visiting Valencia with goals by Brazilian striker Jonathas in the 79th and 82nd.
Valencia remains winless in the league since signing former Manchester United defender Gary Neville as its coach.
Juve struggles to win
Juventus “suffered” on its way to a 2-1 win away to Sampdoria Sunday and expect a “difficult” time trying to stay near the top of Serie A, coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
Hovering above the relegation zone after its first matches of the season, the Turin giant is firmly back in contention for a record-equalling fifth consecutive title after moving two places up to second at two points behind Napoli.
Inter Milan dropped to third, also on 38 points, following a shock 1-0 defeat to Sassuolo while Fiorentina slipped to fourth at a further point off the pace following their shock 3-1 defeat to Lazio Saturday.
Marseille woes continue
Marseille was again left frustrated after a 0-0 draw against struggling Guingamp Sunday extended its winless run at home to eight matches in Ligue 1.
Javier Manquillo tested Guingamp goalkeeper Jonas Lossl with a stinging shot just before half-time while Portuguese defender Rolando rattled the crossbar for the hosts after the break.
OM dropped one place to 11th while Guingamp remains in the bottom three, a point from safety, despite snapping its five-game losing streak.
Earlier, Nantes won for the first time in eight matches as goals from Johan Audel and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson enabled them to overcome Nolan Roux’s opener and beat Saint Etienne 2-1.
Niklas Hult’s first goal of the season for Nice cancelled out an early Yassine Benzia effort in a 1-1 draw at Lille. — Agencies
