Madrid, Sep 30 (IANS) Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid drew the first Madrid derby of the season 1-1 with goals from Eder Militao and Angel Correa, in a game that will unfortunately be remembered for reasons other than football.
The result was overshadowed by lamentable incidents in the stands of Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium in the second half of the game.
Real Madrid had taken a 63rd minute lead through Eder Militao when referee Busquets Ferrer was forced to stop the game after members of Atletico Madrid’s ‘Frente Atletico’ ultra group, some of whom had their faces completely covered by masks, situated behind Thibaut Courtois in the Real Madrid goal, began to rain objects onto the pitch, reports Xinhua.
The game was suspended for 15 minutes to try and calm things down before restarting, although TV images showed further objects thrown towards Courtois in the closing minutes of the game.
The first half was disappointing with few chances at either end, although after Courtois denied Julian Alvarez from a narrow angle, Real Madrid controlled most of the play.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak did well after 16 minutes to stop Fede Valverde’s powerful drive, while the Real Madrid midfielder sent a free kick just wide 10 minutes later.
Despite the efforts of Conor Gallagher and Marcos Llorente in the Atletico midfield, the home side were struggling to create anything in attack, although they were denying their neighbors space to make chances of their own.
A rare moment of danger saw Rodrygo set up Jude Bellingham, but his tame shot was comfortable for Oblak, who then had to dribble past Vinicius after an awkward backpass from Reinildo.
The second half was also a tight affair until Real Madrid took the lead in the 63rd minute thanks to Militao. Real Madrid took a short free kick to Vinicius, who crossed to the far post for the defender to volley past Oblak, with a slight deflection off Llorente.
When the game restarted, Oblak did well to save Vinicius’ long-range effort, while at the other end Courtois’ flying save tipped Samuel Lino’s effort over the bar.
Griezmann then fired over the Real Madrid bar, while Courtois stuck out a leg to block Angel Correa’s cross.
It looked as if Real were going to hang on for a win, but in the 95th minute substitutes Javi Galan and Angel Correa combined for Correa to scramble past Courtois with the goal given after a VAR check.
There was still time for Llorente to be sent off for a bad challenge on Fran Garcia in virtually the last action of a game that is certain to have repercussions for Atletico.
