Atletico Madrid survive scare to progress in Copa del Rey

You’d have been forgiven for expecting a comfortable Atletico Madrid victory in this evening’s Copa del Rey second round tie against Arenteiro. However, it was anything but for Diego Simeone’s men.

Despite being three tiers below their visitors in the Spanish footballing pyramid, Arenteiro were determined to make life difficult for their esteemed counterparts, who fielded a very strong team. They did just that after 42 minutes, with Marquitos opening the scoring for the Segunda Federacion side.

Had they led going into the break, perhaps the result would’ve been different. However, the home side conceded a penalty on the stroke of half time, with allowed Yannick Carrasco to equalise for Los Rojiblancos.

Atleti were awarded another penalty on the hour mark of this keenly contested affair when Diego Rodriguez Garcia Vitra committed a foul in the box. However, Alvaro Morata was denied by Arenteiro keeper Diego Garcia, who kept the game tied.

Unfortunately for the hosts, young midfielder Pablo Barrios scored his first goal for the Atleti first team to give them the lead with 15 minutes remaining. Carrasco then secured the win in stoppage time with his second and Atleti’s third.

Despite the result, Arenteiro competed brilliantly against one of the giants of Spanish football, and they can certainly be proud of their efforts.

Tags Arenteiro Atletico Madrid Copa del Rey
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