Atletico de Madrid 3 : 0 Real Sociedad - Luis, Suarez and Aguero on target for Atletico

Posted Sunday, April 10, 2011 by PA

Atletico Madrid boosted their bid for a European berth by claiming a deserved 3-0 victory over freefalling Real Sociedad at the Vicente Calderon.

First-half goals from Filipe Luis and Mario Suarez set Atletico on their way and captain Sergio Aguero sealed the spoils with his side's third 12 minutes from time.

The victory, Atletico's second in succession following their away win over Osasuna, saw the Rojiblancos move level on 45 points with sixth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who lost to Real Madrid on Saturday night.

For last season's Segunda Division champions Sociedad, the defeat means they have now taken just one point from a possible 21 in their last seven games and they are now just five points above the relegation zone.

Atletico started well and they had already gone close a couple of times before taking the lead with a well-worked goal in the 12th minute.

Aguero's cross-field pass was chested down by his strike partner Diego Costa, who then back-heeled the ball into the path of fellow Brazilian Filipe Luis and the over-lapping full-back thumped a rising shot inside the top corner.

Atletico continued to dominate and they almost made it 2-0 in the 37th minute when Aguero's pinpoint chip picked out Costa, who brought the ball down before firing in a shot that Sociedad goalkeeper Claudio Bravo deflected onto the far post.

That was a let-off for the visitors, but they were not so lucky seven minutes later as Atletico did double their lead through midfielder Suarez.

Jose Antonio Reyes left marker Carlos Martinez sprawled on the ground with a series of dummies as he made his way to the by-line, then he drew out Bravo before laying the ball back to Suarez, who slotted into an empty net.

Atletico had three decent openings in quick succession to go 3-0 up around the hour-mark but Aguero blazed over, Jorge Koke fired straight at Bravo before the Sociedad custodian and Tiago both missed a Reyes cross, which curled just inches wide of the far post.

Those scares sparked Sociedad into a sustained spell of pressure, but they created little to trouble Atletico goalkeeper David De Gea, and soon enough the home side were back on the attack.

Costa, whose hat-trick saw off Osasuna last week, saw his close-range header parried by the over-worked Bravo, who then turned behind Koke's low shot.

Atletico survived a let-off of their own in the 74th minute when De Gea produced a fine diving save to keep out Diego Ifran's header, but four minutes after that the home side ensured the points would be theirs as Aguero raced over half the length of the pitch to make it 3-0 and complete the scoring.

The goal stemmed from a Sociedad corner, which was headed clear by Tiago and Aguero, after the ball had bounced over both his and his marker's head, raced unchallenged from inside his own half before driving a low shot past Bravo from the edge of the area as the visiting defence tried in vain to close him down.