Atletico Madrid Stun Real Madrid With Late Goal To Steal Derby Victory

Atletico Madrid secured an incredible victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu to continue their stunning start to the season — and send their neighbors to yet another defeat.

Real, who lost to Real Sociedad two weeks ago, actually dominated proceedings for most of the match. However, they just couldn’t muster up a deserved winner though, which allowed Atletico to steal their victory.

Tiago had headed Atletico in front after ten minutes from a corner, but Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been linked with a move away from Real all week long, restored parity from the penalty spot 16 minutes later. Ronaldo had won the penalty himself, and on his return from injury he drove the ball home. Real then looked to build on this momentum.

The penalty, which had been a tad soft as there was very minimal contact from the defender, Guilherme Siquirera, was then followed by several chances for Real. Karim Benzema was played through by Ronaldo, but the French forward mis-controlled the ball and the opportunity went away, before the former Lyon striker then saw his header superbly saved by Miguel Angel Moya in the Atletico goal.

Ronaldo, who struggled to maintain his great start to the game due to his injury, faded badly as the game progressed, but what will worry Carlo Ancelotti more is how quiet Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez were for the hosts. Neither the Welshman nor the Colombia managed to get involved in the game, and as it progressed, you could sense that Diego Simeone’s side were getting more dangerous.

In the 76th minute this showed when Arda Turan neatly finished past Iker Casillas to give Atletico the lead. Real then began to push for an equalizer, but they were unable to get one as their opponents held firm for their victory.

After the game, Ancelotti insisted that he is still the man to lead Real forward despite this defeat, which now sees them languishing in 12th place.

“We don’t have a problem with the system,” the Italian insisted. “The problem was a lack of intensity. We have to analyze why there was a slump in the second half and how we fix it. The first half was good, like against Real Sociedad. The second wasn’t. We haven’t repeated the good first half. We lost pace and aggression. We’re paying for the mistakes we’re making. There are moments where things don’t work out and we have to change and react quickly. The early season isn’t good but it’s only the beginning. We’ll fix it.”

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