Correa and Oblak give Atletico win by narrowest of margins

Atletico Madrid won at home to go into fourth, level on points with Sevilla. However, despite cruising for 70 minutes, Granada, who had their eyes on the Copa del Rey semi-final in midweek, fought back in the last 20 and put Atletico under real pressure at the end in a game littered with fouls and cards. 

Simeone's men started positively and a sixth minute goal by Angel Correa made the difference. A throw-in by Saul went to Koke inside the box, he passed to Correa who hit past Aaron into the back of the net. The away side were caught sleeping and it was a straight forward goal, but that slip up ended up costing them a point. 

Granada had no shots on target in the first half with just Azeez and Foulquier hitting wide. However, they were much more ambitious in the second period, especially in the last 20-25 minutes. In the 68th minute, Victor Diaz on the far side cut inside, fed Eteki who miscues his strike ands then Azeez fired over the goal. Four minutes later, they had their best chance of the game when Soldado directed a Koybasi cross towards goal with his heel and Oblak had to made a superb save down low from blank range. It was a save that proved to be a match winning one. 

Atletico could have scored a second in the first half though as Vitolo was denied by the post 17 minutes in at 1-0 and then nine minutes later, he had the ball in the back of the net after Thomas had played him on. Unfortunately for the home fans, the ex-Sevilla man had timed his run too early. The home side were in complete control in the opening 45, but at 1-0, it is never over. 

Had it not been for Oblak's vital intervention, they would have dropped two points against a side which had just one shot on target in the whole game. When the final free-kick of the game was cleared to safety, there was a evident sigh of relief among the home players as Granada pressed towards the end. 

It ended up being a typical Atletico Madrid performance: scoring one goal, sitting on their lead and then suffering towards the end. In this case, it worked, but it certainly made for uncomfortable viewing for the Atleti faithful. The game was very stop start as well with lots of fouls and 10 yellow cards issued by an inexperienced referee who looked to be out of his depth. Several of the cards were wrong which led to Soldado fuming at his "laughable" card as well as the fact there were only two second half stoppage time minutes.

In the end, an Atletico win was probably a fair result, but Granada certainly made it difficult for them. 'Los Colchoneros' are in fourth, level on points with Sevilla while Granada remain in 10th and have an exciting Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Athletic Bilbao to look forward to.