Diego Costa puts Colchoneros into seventh heaven!The visitors claimed their first league win over their good rivals since 1999 and continued their perfect begin to the season.
Real Madrid fell five points off the Liga pace as they suffered a 1-0 derby defeat to Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday evening.
In an enthralling game, the only goal was scored by Diego Costa, who ensured the visiting side won their seventh consecutive league fixture since the begin of the season.
Ancelotti decided to begin with Modric on the bench, giving the Khedira-Illarramendi midfield another chance. Bale also started on the bench after his little thigh injury, so ngel Di Mara was given the opportunity to be the starter once again. The rest of the lineup was expected, with Arbeloa playing as Real's right back and Coentrao filling in for Marcelo.
Real Madrid started the game with intensity with some fine defensive efforts by the midfielders. Isco even had a chance to shoot the ball, but Atltico's defense deflected it. Atltico Madrid pressed really high and Diego Lpez was forced to go aerial and pass it to Cristiano Ronaldo instead of starting the play with Illarramendi. Those difficulties became obvious as soon as Di Mara turned the ball over in a very dangerous position. Diego Costa scored passed Diego Lpez with ease and Atltico had their first goal in the 10th minute.
The crowd started to show their discomfort with the team's play in the 15th minute after some bad turnovers in the midfield and Atltico Madrid's ability to enjoy counterattacks. It would be better to retain and encourage the team, but that's just how Bernabu's crowd works.
The team had its first chance after a fine header by Karim Benzema. Courtois saved it and Isco tried to attain the ball, but it was sent to corner-kick instead. The French striker had yet another good chance after a good cross by Di Mara in the 26th minute, but he couldn't aim properly.
Then Atltico Madrid enjoyed two good chances off set pieces, especially one header by Tiago that went over Diego's post. ngel Di Mara then started to make some bad decisions with the ball. He tried to rush the plays too much, so his team never had immense chances for a moment. Isco's presence was never felt, so Real Madrid lacked the composure and patience to save the ball and force Atltico Madrid to play defensively.
Mateu Lahoz then started to be Mateu Lahoz. He has a different rulebook. Lahoz usually calls fouls that aren't so and he lets the play go upon after a bad tackle. Liga BBVA: Where Mateu Lahoz happens.
The first half ended with Atltico Madrid having the best chances. Diego Lpez saved Atleti's second goal off a corner-kick, and Real Madrid never had the opportunity to control the game. Only Cristiano Ronaldo sent the ball over the summit of Courtois' goal in the 44th minute. The rest was really poor.
The second half started with Bale and Modric joining the game and replacing Illarramendi and Di Mara.
Unfortunately for them and their teammates, Atltico Madrid kept the control of the game, even though los blancos had most of the possession. Simeone's team wasted a lot of time and Mateu Lahoz allowed that while Filipe Luis and Diego Costa were diving all over the place.
Diego Costa missed Atleti's greatest chance of setting a two-goal lead upon the scoreboard after a yet another cunning withhold by Lpez. Then Bale had a shot upon target that was saved by Thibaut Courtois. That was Real Madrid's only shot for 65 minutes moreover Benzema's header in the first half. Minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo had a really hard shot saved by Courtois as well.
Morata joined the game, replacing Isco, who had his first mediocre game as a Real Madrid player. The crowd still didn't like that change and started to whistle Carlo Ancelotti as soon as the speaker announced the substitution.
Ancelotti's team relied too much upon Sami Khedira. The German player is not a creative midfielder but he was forced to play as one for most of the match. Ancelotti probably should had to take him out instead of Illarramendi considering that his team was already trailing. As Bob Dylan sang in "Like a Rolling Stone", "When you got nothing you got nothing to lose".
Diego Lpez kept saving Real Madrid from conceding more goals, so it was Simeone's dreamt match. It looked as if his team never struggled. They were the best team, simply put.
Real Madrid still had some good chances, especially one off an acrobatic volley by lvaro Morata that was saved by Courtois -again-.
Simeone made all his three changes in a couple of minutes and cooled down Real Madrid's tries of scoring the equalizer. Simeone is a great coach that deserves a lot of credit for what he has done with this club.
Modric and Morata gave the fans some hope with their late efforts, but Ancelotti's team never had a real chance of beating Courtois. Their chances were too predictable and far from accurate.
This was a really frustrating derby for Real Madrid as it showed the team's lack of cohesion. Ancelotti's team is 5 points behind Atltico and Barcelona already.
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