Barca let him go because he was ’past his best’, but Luis Suarez shines on
Reading Time: 3min | Fri. 22.01.21. | 08:43
The Uruguayan struck twice against Eibar to help his team come from behind and secure three big points in the title chase
Atletico Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points ahead of Real Madrid. And they still have a game in hand that could potentially see them go ten points clear. Once again, Luis Suarez showed that he’s a classy goalscorer as he hit a brace past Eibar goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, who has remarkably opened the scoring at Ipurua from the penalty spot.
Eibar was battling hard, just as they always do and they did create chances that could see them re-take the lead in the second half, but it was a night of Luiz Suarez in the Basque Country. He scored a real poacher’s effort five minutes before the break and he won a penalty for his team in the dying minutes. He picked himself up to take the spot kick and dispatched a cold-blooded Panenka into the net of the diving Dmitrovic.
Suarez scores the winning penalty (©Reuters)Atleti have now won 12 of their last 13 league games, keeping a clean sheet in 11 of the past 15 matches in the process. It’s a superb return by the team coached by Diego Simeone, the man who believed in Suarez when he was deemed not good enough for Barcelona anymore. The 33-year-old star has been enjoying his football since last summer’s move to the Spanish capital as he already has 11 goals and 2 assists in just 13 starts. But even more than just the numbers, he has brought bags of experience and calmness to Los Rojiblancos.
Simeone was full of praise for the Uruguayan after the match at Ipurua.
“He is a classy player. He never switches off. He plays the game with such intelligence that you only see from world-class players. He won the penalty and executed it perfectly to help us get the points in a very difficult match. Eibar were a lot better in the first 30 minutes, but we recovered and improved a lot. Second half was hard but I’m happy that we earned the win.”
Meanwhile, Barcelona are sitting third in the table, already ten points behind Atleti. Their fans must be casting envious looks toward Madrid and wondering why their club let go the man who had scored 147 goals in 191 LaLiga matches over six seasons at Camp Nou.
LA LIGA, Matchday 19
Tuesday
Cadiz - Levante 2-2 (2-2)
/Perea 4, Cala 28 - Marti 8, 11/
Valladolid - Elche 2-2 (0-2)
/Michel 71, Fernandez 89 - Josan 9, 43/
Alaves - Sevilla 1-2 (1-2)
/Mendez 12 - En-Nesyri 3, Suso 30/
Wednesday
Getafe - Huesca 1-0 (0-0)
/Arambarri 69/
Betis - Celta 2-1 (1-1)
/Canales 25, 44 - Mina 15/
Villareal - Granada 2-2 (1-1)
/Pena 29, Gomez 65 - Soldado 21, Kenedy 75/
Thursday
Valencia – Osasuna 1-1 (0-1)
/Garcia 69 og – Calleri 42/
Eibar – Atletico 1:2 (1:0)
/Dmitrovic 12 pen – Suarez 40, 89 pen/
