By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Atletico Madrid registered an emphatic 5-2 derby victory over LaLiga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday, ending their rivals’ perfect start to the season.
The last time that Real had conceded as many in La Liga was in a 5-1 defeat by Barcelona in October 2018.
Robin le Normand’s header had given Diego Simeone’s side an early lead that was overturned by superb goals from Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler.
But Alexander Sorloth levelled the game at 2-2 in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
And the hosts took charge after the break when Julian Alvarez, who had hit the post in the first half, converted from the penalty spot before curling home a brilliant free-kick.
Atletico went into their shell, but held their cross-city rivals at bay until Antoine Griezmann grabbed their fifth goal deep into stoppage time.
The result maintained an impressive record against Real in La Liga for Simeone’s side, who have not lost in their past six league encounters with Los Blancos.
Real stayed on top of La Liga by two points, with second-placed Barcelona set to play Real Sociedad 24 hours later while Atletico, who have not lost since the opening day of the league season, moved into fourth.
Attention now turns to the Champions League, with both sides in action on Tuesday, 1 October. Real travel to Kazakhstan to take on Kairat Almaty, while Atletico host Eintracht Frankfurt.