UD Las Palmas will still go down in history as the first team to win in the league at the historic Estadio Vicente Calderón. This afternoon, however, they said farewell with a defeat. A single goal by Saúl (min. 59) was enough for Atlético de Madrid to stave off, at least for now, their crisis. Las Palmas played with more muscle than technique in the first half and stood up to Atlético de Madrid’s uncompromising style to go in at half time on level scores. Setién placed Montoro in the centre of the park to break down the supply of passes to Griezmann and Gameiro. The stripes got into more goal-scoring positions, had more corners and gave away less of the ball than the visitors in key areas of the pitch. However, this superiority did not have the desired effect because in terms of real chances both teams had the same. Saúl hit the post in the 15th minute, which was duly answered by a searing shot by Lemos in the 33rd minute. This long distance effort by the Uruguayan, the substitute in the centre of defence this afternoon in place of the banned David García, hit the angle of crossbar and post of Moyá’s goal and went wide.
Setién’s team lacked sharpness up front to catch out a ponderous Atlético de Madrid. Cholo Simeone’s men were clearly showing signs of being out of form over the last few league fixtures. The Vicente Calderón crowd even began to boo their team when they played long balls out from the back. Las Palmas even enjoyed moments of real pressure during the first half, although they lacked the bite up front to make things count.
Football was being whimsical with Las Palmas. The better they played, when they were outplaying Atlético de Madrid in terms of ambition and skill, when they had had their best chance all afternoon to go ahead, from a low ball that Moyá took off Roque Mesa, the superb goal by Saúl suddenly settled the game in the 58th minute. From that point on until the final whistle nothing could be done to change the result. The yellows tried every way they could against their rivals who were lacking in ideas and creativity, who limited their play to defending the scoreline, to run out winners by a single goal.
