Antoine of a kind strike helps Atletico beat Bilbao
Red cards and late winners have been the standard for Atléti in recent weeks, but fans at the Cívitas Metropolitano were treated to no such drama in a cagey first period, which took well over half an hour to get going. There was still time for one major chance apiece before the interval, however, and Atléti’s fell to Yannick Carrasco, who was sent through on goal with an enticing option to pass across the box to the screaming Marcos Llorente, but instead went alone and saw his shot saved. With life breathed into the match, Bilbao then threatened on the break as Iñaki Williams reached top gear before sending in a low cross, which was agonisingly blazed over the bar by Dani García.
The tide turned towards the hosts after the break as Carrasco once again manufactured a decent sight of goal, but his low strike was well saved by impressive youngster Julen Agirrezabala. Los Leones had one more moment of joy as Nico Williams tested Jan Oblak with a flicked effort from close range, but Griezmann’s enduring class eventually decided the game as he started a sweeping move on the halfway line and finished it himself, firing in emphatically off the post for his seventh league goal of the campaign.
Atléti boss Diego Simeone will naturally be delighted with another clean sheet - the third in their last four games - and his side have now conceded just twice in six La Liga matches. Bilbao stay seventh and lose further ground in their quest for Europe, while Los Colchoneros go within two points of third-place Real Sociedad before a crunch Madrid derby next weekend.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid)