Celta Vigo 0-1 Atletico Madrid: Super-sub Alvarez snatches last-gasp win
Atletico Madrid left it late on Thursday but came away from Celta Vigo with a 1-0 victory thanks to substitute Julian Alvarez in LaLiga.
A late Julian Alvarez goal earned Atletico Madrid a dramatic 1-0 win at Celta Vigo on Thursday to lift them to third in LaLiga.
Atletico looked to be heading to a second straight draw, but the substitute was alert in the final minute of the 90 to ensure they returned to Madrid with all three points.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak was key as Celta suffered their first home defeat of the season, producing an excellent save to deny Iago Aspas at his near post just before the break.
He kept his side in it throughout a poor showing, also keeping out Borja Iglesias twice after the break as Celta struggled to find their clinical edge.
But big-money signing Alvarez struck in the dying minutes, stretching out a leg to meet Antonie Griezmann's pinpoint cross to poke his second goal of the season past Vicente Guaita.
Data Debrief: Atleti ride their luck
It was not a vintage performance for Atletico by any stretch of the imagination, which was only confirmed as Oblak was awarded player of the match at the end of the contest.
The visitors only had two shots on target (from eight attempts), with both of those coming in the final 11 minutes as they accumulated just 0.63 expected goals.
Celta's profligacy came back to haunt them though as they had 10 shots, four of which hit the target, with three of those classed as big chances. They created an xG of 1.37, but just could not find a way past Oblak.