Real Betis bounced back from their midweek Copa del Rey humiliation to defeat Atletico Madrid 1-0
Antony’s brilliant 28th-minute strike proved decisive to secure a historic first win at the Metropolitano
Atletico had a late equaliser ruled out after VAR intervention as Betis held firm
Real Betis bounced back from their midweek Copa del Rey demolition by Atletico Madrid with a narrow 1-0 LaLiga victory over Diego Simeone's side on Sunday.
Just three days after suffering an embarrassing 5-0 home defeat to Atletico that ended their cup run at the quarter-final stage, Betis held on to clinch their first-ever win at the Estadio Metropolitano.
Jose Maria Gimenez drew a good save from Alvaro Valles early on, while Ademola Lookman fired wide minutes later as Atleti looked to replicate their stellar midweek display.
But it was Betis who took the lead in the 28th minute, courtesy of a stunning long-range strike from Antony. The Brazilian cut past Mateo Ruggeri with ease before curling a superb effort past Jan Oblak at the near post.
Atletico pushed hard for a leveller as Alexander Sorloth was twice denied by good saves from Valles, both off deliveries from Antoine Griezmann.
The hosts thought they were handed a lifeline in the 74th minute as Diego Llorente turned into his own net following pressure from Griezmann in the box, but the goal was chalked off for an offside against the Frenchman following a VAR review as Betis saw out the closing stages.
Data Debrief: Decisive Antony helps Betis to vital win
Antony's decisive finish comes as a huge boost to Betis, who moved into the top five in LaLiga and within seven points of Atletico.
Among all players in the top five European Leagues across all competitions this season, Antony is the player with the highest percentage of goals scored from outside the box (10 or more goals) with 60% (6/10).
It was a game of fine margins, with Betis' 0.94 expected goals (xG) total just narrowly edging Atletico's 0.66 xG.
