Atletico Madrid on Monday registered their biggest-ever Away victory as they defeated Rayo Vallecano by a huge 7-0 margin at the Estadio de Vallecas. Alvaro Morata was the hero, scoring twice for his team with Antoine Griezmann, Memphis Depay, Nahuel Molina, Angel Correa, and Marcos Llorente joining the party.
Atletico were on the get-go since the opening whistle and dominated the entire first half, scoring the opening goal within two minutes, followed by two more within the first 45 minutes to ensure a solid lead ahead of the second half. The opening goal came from Griezmann following a promising assist from De Paul at 2 minutes. This was soon followed up by the second Atletico goal from Depay in the 16th minute.
Atletico’s lead was further extended when De Paul created yet another opening, this time in the 36th minute which was converted into the third Atletico goal by Nahuel Molina. Rayo Vallecano tried to fight back at some spots but they were clearly no match to the onslaught that Atletico was imposing in the match.
Ultimately, the first half ended with Atletico Madrid holding a formidable 3-0 lead over Rayo. The only blemish on the result of Atletico’s spectacular first-half performance was losing Dutch forward Depay to injury.
The second half commenced with Atletico continuing from where they left in the first half. Despite Rayo maintaining the majority of the ball possession, Atletico was able to break through on several instances, throwing shots at the target. It was finally in the 73rd minute that tragedy struck Rayo when Alvaro Morata scored his first goal of the match following a sublime assist by Saul.
The fifth goal for the team came in the 79th minute from the rattling boots of Angel Correa, who followed up his goal with a brilliant assist just five minutes later to help Morata score his second goal of the match and the sixth for the team in the 84th minute. With all hopes lost, Marcos Llorente put the final nail in the Rayo coffin as he scored the seventh and final goal of the match in the 86th minute. The goal came just 2 minutes after Morato’s goal.
Four goals in 13 second-half minutes ensured Atletico Madrid gained an unassailable lead, which Rayo had no chance to cover up. It was a dominating away victory for the team in front of a rival crowd. The massive win will help Atletico in the long run as they look forward to picking up more victories en route to the La Liga title.
It’s amusing that despite having over 55% ball possession throughout the match, Vallecano could fire only 3 shots at the target and failed to convert even a single one of those. Rayo even got more corner kicks in the match, but none to avail. On the hind side, Atletico Madrid kept around 45% possession, firing 17 shots out of which 10 were on target and 7 were converted.
This dominating victory has pushed Atletico Madrid up in the La Liga rankings. They are now positioned at the second spot with 7 points from three games, two points behind table toppers and arch-rivals Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid’s superior goal difference courtesy of the 7-0 win over Rayo has helped them have an edge over Girona and Barcelona, who are now placed at third and fourth spot respectively, also with 7 points each.
