Atletico scrape narrow victory at Mallorca

Julian Alvarez earned Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at Mallorca yesterday to take his side third in La Liga. Diego Simeone’s side secured their fourth consecutive victory across all competitions in a tight clash at Mallorca’s Son Moix stadium.Alvarez netted his fourth league goal since joining Atletico from Manchester City in the summer in the 61st minute after being set up unselfishly by Diego Simeone’s son Giuliano Simeone."We knew it would be a tough game, we got better in the second half, the goal came and we took three important points,” said Argentina international Alvarez. "You can always improve, (but) I feel very good, my teammates and the staff have helped me to adapt as quickly as possible... but I’m always looking to improve day to day.”An even first half was barren of excitement until Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak tipped over Cyle Larin’s header shortly before the break. The second half improved after Giuliano Simeone ran onto Oblak’s long ball and squared for Alvarez to finish.Rodrigo Riquelme might have doubled Atletico’s lead but fired too close to Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif after cutting in from the left, leaving his coach making gestures of frustration on the sideline. Mallorca struggled to carve out more clear chances of their own until substitute Abdon Prats broke through but Oblak denied him by racing out quickly and blocking his prodded effort. "It was an even game, I think we deserved a bit more, a draw would have been fairer,” said Mallorca defender Martin Valjent.Late last night, leaders Barcelona were visiting Real Sociedad. Champions Real Madrid, second, cut the gap on the Catalans to six points with a thumping 4-0 win over Osasuna on Saturday. Atletico’s win took them two points above fourth-place Villarreal a day after they beat Alaves 3-0, although the Yellow Submarine have played one fewer match.