Victory to keep up the pressure in the Liga BBVA

Atlético Madrid had not gone so well against RCD Espanyol in recent years and the Rojiblancos wanted to change history. They did so at their home ground, the Vicente Calderón, on matchday 8 of the Liga BBVA, with Diego Pablo Simeone's side claiming a 2-0 victory over the Pericos, who were previously unbeaten in four games.

Atlético sent out a warning in the second minute with a ball into the area that had to be cleared by Kiko Casilla, who was kept very busy in the first half. The home side dominated the match, with Espanyol preferring to wait for an opportunity to surprise their opposition on the counter-attack. However, their chance never came, and in the first half the Catalan side watched on as Tiago opened the scoring with a header to the near post. 

The second half offered little in the way of football and chances on goal. There were just two moves from Mario Mandžukić for Atlético that could have ended in a score and a ball from Salva Sevilla that failed to find a finisher for Espanyol. The Rojiblancos maintained the status quo and managed to find a second goal to ease the tension through Mario Suárez, who came off the bench and scored from a corner. With this victory, the Madrid side's 17 points keep them clinging to the top part of the table.