Atletico ended their brief drought by comprehensively defeating Unai Emery’s men.
Atletico Madrid ended what looked like a brief rough patch with a 2-0 victory over Villarreal.
Atletico were under enormous pressure to eke out a win after dropping points in their last three consecutive games across all competitions, further allowing rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona to close the points gap.
Diego Simeone’s men initially struggled to gain ground and goalkeeper Jan Oblak was called into action with a couple of fine saves. Samuel Chukwueze was indeed the Yellow Submarine’s most dangerous player but the young winger failed to make an impact in the final third.
Villarreal had themselves to blame after left-back Alfonso found his own nets, thus handing Atletico a much-needed breakthrough.
Los Rojiblancos clung to the momentum and later added the second one to their tally, this time with the help of Joao Felix. The Portuguese youngster came off the bench to fire in a well-controlled volley from the edge of the box.
After ending up winless against Levante and Chelsea, Atletico managed to pick up an important away win and have extended their lead at the top of the table by five points with a game in hand.
They will next face their arch-rivals Real Madrid and the contest will decide the fate of the title race. Atletico ended up short in the reverse fixture but would look to seek revenge this time around.
