Julián Alvarez lit up the Metropolitano with a hat-trick that dragged Atlético Madrid previous Rayo Vallecano in a breathless 3-2 derby win. For Diego Simeone, it was reduction as a lot as celebration, together with his facet’s fragile behavior of throwing away leads nearly haunting them once more.
Softfootball predicted Atletico to attain targets within the sport preview, and the Madrid-based workforce struck early. Simply quarter-hour in, Alvarez related sweetly with Marcos Llorente’s cross, volleying previous Augusto Batalla to ship the house crowd into raptures. However any consolation was laced with nerves; Simeone’s males had surrendered leads in 4 of their final 5 league matches. The necessity for a cushion grew when Alvarez blazed over from shut vary after high-quality work by Nahuel Molina.
Rayo not often threatened within the first half, but once they did, it was spectacular. On the stroke of half-time, Pep Chavarría unleashed a thunderous strike from distance that arrowed past Jan Oblak. Silence swept across the Metropolitano as they witnessed one other Atlético lead gone.
The second half introduced extra hazard. Isi Palazón pressured Oblak into a pointy save earlier than Simeone turned to youth, sending on Giuliano Simeone and Nico González. Atlético improved, however Rayo weren’t completed. Iván Balliu tried his luck from vary earlier than Álvaro García produced a second of sophistication, rounding Oblak and slotting into an empty internet following an attractive move from Isi Palazón.
Looking at defeat, Atlético wanted a spark and Alvarez delivered. Barely a minute after García’s strike, the Argentine pounced on a spilled cross to make it 2-2. Then got here the killer blow, a fierce left-footed drive from outdoors the field that ripped into the web. Simply final day trip, Julian Alvarez was lamenting being subbed off within the 1-1 draw in opposition to Mallorca, and now he bagged a hat trick and single-handedly obtained all three factors for Atleti.
Atletico Madrid posted a video on the workforce’s official X account of the celebratory scenes as quickly as Julian Alvarez’s bullet crashed into the again of the web.
Watch the video beneath:
It wasn’t excellent, but it surely was dramatic. Atlético climb to eighth with solely their second league win of the season, whereas Rayo’s look forward to a victory stretches to 4 matches. On one other evening, the guests might need stolen the headlines. As a substitute, it belonged to Alvarez.
