Skip to content

Morata sends Atletico Madrid into top 4

JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Getty

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications.

Alvaro Morata's second-half winner secured Atletico Madrid a 1-0 victory at Granada on Monday, taking Diego Simeone's men into the La Liga top four.

The capital club took advantage of Athletic Bilbao's 1-0 loss at Valencia on Saturday to move above the Basque team into fourth on goals scored, with a game in hand.

Atletico are a distant 11 points adrift of surprise league leaders Girona.

Visitors Atletico made a slow start against their second-bottom opponents, but Rodrigo Riquelme forced Granada goalkeeper Augusto Batalla into a good save in the 31st minute, seconds before Antoine Griezmann rattled the crossbar.

Morata broke the deadlock, though, in the 55th minute with a header, from a Griezmann cross, which survived a VAR check for offside.

Samuel Lino then struck the bar, before Saul Niguez's effort was ruled out by VAR for offside.

Griezmann hit the woodwork for a second time late on when his attempt came back off the post, but Atletico were able to close out just their second league win in five games.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox