Alvaro Morata secured a dramatic 94th‑minute winner for Atlético Madrid, giving the visitors a 1‑0 triumph over Girona on Monday and tightening their grip on third place in La Liga. After La Real, fourth‑placed, were held to a draw at Mallorca on Sunday, Atlético moved three points clear of the Basque side with the last‑gasp strike at Montilivi. Morata finished from close range after Angel Correa flicked a corner onto him; the goal survived a lengthy VAR check to confirm the striker was not offside.
Girona, sitting 12th, began brightly and even thought they had earned a penalty when Stefan Savic handled in the box, but the appeal was dismissed because striker Taty Castellanos was offside. Following Atlético’s 6‑1 demolition of Sevilla last weekend, Simeone continued to rely on the Memphis Depay–Antoine Griezmann partnership. The duo combined early, with Depay setting up Griezmann, whose effort was saved by goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga. Griezmann then crossed for Depay, who volleyed narrowly over the bar from close range. Yannick Carrasco also troubled Gazzaniga in the first half, operating effectively on the left flank and making forward runs at every opportunity. Depay fired another shot over the bar as Atlético began to dominate play.
Early in the second half, Griezmann—one of the league’s most in‑form players—created a chance for Marcos Llorente, but Gazzaniga denied him as well. Atlético appealed for a penalty when Oriol Romeu handled the ball, but the referee, after consulting the VAR replay, identified Rojiblancos defender Mario Hermoso as the player who had pushed the Girona midfielder into the ball. Jan Oblak was called into action for the first time, denying Viktor Tsygankov, and later saved a lob attempt from David Lopez. The Slovenian goalkeeper made another fine stop later, denying Rodrigo Riquelme, who was on loan from his parent club.
As the match wound down, substitute Morata intervened, netting the decisive goal and securing three points for Atlético from an evenly contested clash— their fourth win in their last five La Liga games.
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