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Atletico Madrid went to bed as league leaders in Spain on Saturday night, but Diego Simeone's side will be frustrated after being held to a 0-0 draw by an effective and disciplined Athletic Club Bilbao side that had the best chances to win the match.
Atletico Madrid's best and virtually only chance was a Marcos Llorente shot which bounced off the post in the second half and the visitors would have taken all three points if Inaki Williams, who was making his 200th consecutive league appearance, had been able to finish when one on one with Jan Oblak, or Asier Villalibre had been able to hit the target in injury time with just Oblak to beat. Atletico's frustration was compounded when Joao Felix was sent off with 13 minutes left to play after saying "you are crazy, you are crazy" to referee Gil Manzano, while Athletic remain unbeaten and have conceded just once in their first five games. Former Atletico striker Radamel Falcao came on as a substitute and scored on his debut to round off Rayo Vallecano's 3-0 win over Getafe, Xinhua reports. Oscar Trejo's ninth minute penalty put Rayo ahead in a bad-tempered derby and Pathe Ciss's 78th minute header doubled Rayo's lead against a rival that has kicked off the season with five consecutive defeats under coach Michel Gonzalez. Getafe's misery was complete when Rayo keeper, Stole Dimitrievski saved Enes Unal's late penalty. Alaves have also lost all of their games at the start of the season after suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Osasuna, who claimed all three points thanks to a David Garcia header in the 21st minute of the game and a 28th minute penalty from Roberto Torres following a handball in the Alaves area. Elche and Levante drew 1-1 with Jose Luis Morales' 55th minute goal cancelling out Lucas Perez's 33rd minute opener for the home side. The round of matches kicked off as Cadiz won 2-1 away to Celta Vigo thanks to goals from Anthony Lozano and Alfonso Espino, who scored from close range after a penalty. --IANS akm/ ( 361 Words) 2021-09-19-08:58:03 (IANS)
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