- Koke - 35'
- Gabi - 78'
- Jackson Martínez - 85'
Jackson Martinez scores first Atletico Madrid goal in Sevilla defeat
Jackson Martinez came off the bench to score his first Atletico Madrid goal in a 3-0 win over Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
The 28-year-old Colombian forward moved to the Spanish capital over the summer after a prolific spell in Portugal with Porto and the South American opened his account with Atleti to cap off a comfortable win for Diego Simeone's men.
Spain international Koke prodded in the opener 10 minutes before the interval and Martinez's introduction as a 78th-minute substitute to replace Fernando Torres paid dividends to the tune of two further goals.
He had been on the pitch a matter of seconds when Gabi's deflected effort beat Beto to make it 2-0 and Martinez then found the net himself following a smart one-two with Antoine Griezmann.
Martinez had started his debut in the 1-0 win over Las Palmas for Atletico's opening contest in the Primera Division, yet Torres was preferred as the fulcrum of their attack in Seville.
The hosts were unfortunate not to lead when Coke's right-wing cross nearly evaded Fernando Llorente and reached fellow full-back Benoit Tremoulinas, whose near-post effort was repelled by goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
The 2014 Spanish champions held a half-time lead, though, thanks to Koke's first league goal since March.
Sevilla wanted a foul as back-peddling pair Griezmann and Daniel Carrico fell to the ground but the former, who appeared to have been pulled to the ground anyway, slipped a pass through to Koke on the floor and the midfielder jabbed it into the far corner of the net.
Griezmann appealed in vain for an early second-half penalty as he squeezed between Carrico and Grzegorz Krychowiak, while Koke should have done better with a first-time effort which he bent straight at Beto.
Torres then fired wide on an evening when he was largely disappointing and it was the arrival of Martinez that helped Atleti put the contest to bed.
He was still jogging forward from the sideline when the visitors' skipper Gabi let fly from 30 yards out, with the ball striking Krychowiak's back and deflecting it beyond Beto.
And Martinez then got in on the act himself five minutes from time against a tiring defence.
With Sevilla demoralised and allowing the striker space outside the edge of the area, he played a give-and-go with Griezmann and lifted a left-footed effort around the goalkeeper and into the net, much to the delight of Simeone and the Atleti bench.
Griezmann had set up two and almost claimed one for himself with a stoppage-time try that Martinez had teed up which arched around Beto and came back off the far post, with Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco then driving the rebound wide.
Game Information
Spanish LALIGA Standings
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlético Madrid | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | +21 | 41 |
Real Madrid | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | +23 | 40 |
Barcelona | 19 | 12 | 2 | 5 | +29 | 38 |
Athletic Club | 19 | 10 | 6 | 3 | +12 | 36 |
Villarreal | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | +4 | 30 |
Mallorca | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | -2 | 30 |
Real Sociedad | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | +3 | 25 |
Girona | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | +1 | 25 |
Real Betis | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | -1 | 25 |
Osasuna | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | -4 | 25 |
Celta Vigo | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | -1 | 24 |
Rayo Vallecano | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | -1 | 22 |
Las Palmas | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 22 |
Sevilla | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | -7 | 22 |
Leganés | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | -11 | 18 |
Alavés | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | -9 | 17 |
Getafe | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | -4 | 16 |
Espanyol | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | -14 | 15 |
Valencia | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -10 | 12 |
Real Valladolid | 18 | 3 | 3 | 12 | -25 | 12 |