October 22, (THEWILL) – Antoine Griezmann netted a hat-trick as Atletico Madrid thrashed 10-man Celta Vigo 3-0 to temporarily climb to second place in La Liga on Saturday.
The Frenchman was in sublime form at Celta’s Balaidos stadium, capitalising on their numerical advantage after goalkeeper Ivan Villar was sent off for bringing down Atletico striker, Alvaro Morata, in the area midway through the first half. Vicente Guaita came on to make his Celta debut but could not prevent Griezmann from converting the resulting penalty.
Griezmann went on to add two more goals to his tally, moving him up to seven league goals this season, behind only Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham in the Spanish scoring charts. Celta had threatened themselves before Villar’s dismissal and went close when Jorgen Strand Larsen and Jonathan Bamba hit the woodwork.
However, Guaita could not deny Griezmann, who brilliantly drove from inside his own half before firing past the goalkeeper at the near post for his second. He completed his treble by slotting home Nahuel Molina’s cross to round off a superb evening for Diego Simeone’s side.
The victory lifts Atletico to within three points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who drew 1-1 at Sevilla earlier on Saturday. The Rojiblancos are level on points with third-placed Girona, who host bottom side Almeria on Sunday, before champions Barcelona welcome Athletic Bilbao.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
