Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Atletico Madrid claimed a 10th win in a row in all competitions with a comfortable 3-1 home victory over Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Atletico moved up to 10th with 12 points from six matches, while Slovan are rooted to the bottom of the 36-team table having lost all six games and they cannot make the playoffs.
Griezmann scored for the fifth successive match with a first-half header and a simple finish at the near post in the second period, adding to well-taken opener from his strike partner Julian Alvarez.
Slovan briefly got back into the match at 2-1 when David Strelec earned a penalty and converted himself from 12 yards. Tigran Barseghyan also struck the crossbar in the first half.
Free-scoring Atletico have netted 21 goals in their last five games in all competitions and might have had more in this one too but were wasteful in the final third.
Alvarez’s 12th goal of the season gave the hosts the lead inside 16 minutes when Slovan allowed him too much time and space on the edge of the box and he unleashed a pinpoint shot into the top corner.
The visitors came close to an equaliser with a lightning counter-attack that finished with Barseghyan shooting against the crossbar.
Atletico doubled their advantage with a simple goal three minutes before halftime. Marcos Llorente stretched to direct a deep cross to the back post and Griezmann rose above the static defenders to head the ball into the net. Slovan were awarded a penalty when Clement Lenglet clipped the heel of Strelec in the box and the latter took the spot-kick himself, scoring his fourth goal of the campaign.
Any thoughts of a comeback diminished, however, as Griezmann netted his second to extend the Atletico lead again. He was slipped into space in the six-yard box and beat Slovan goalkeeper Dominik Takac at his near post.
Lille also secured a 3-2 victory over visitors Sturm Graz in a thriller on Wednesday, with substitute Hakon Arnar Haraldsson scoring a late winner. The Icelandic midfielder had been on the pitch for a minute when he found himself unmarked in the box, calmly curling the ball into the top corner with nine minutes remaining.
Lille are sixth in the Champions League table ahead of Wednesday’s remaining matches with 13 points, while Sturm Graz are 29th with three points.
After a largely uneventful opening, the match came to life in the final minutes of the first half, with Osame Sahraoui breaking the deadlock for Lille in the 37th minute, before Mitchel Bakker doubled their lead 10 minutes later.