Gathering a lot of gunpowder in attack is not always synonymous with success. There are times when the aim is not sharp and no matter how reliable the weapons are, the objective is not reached. Or luck is simply not on your side. Atlético de Madrid joined for the first time in the starting eleven Sorloth and Julianhis two brand new signings in attack, and added to the game Correa, Griezmann, Llorente…but it didn’t help him find Espanyol’s goal even once.
Colchoneros and Pericos tied without goals in a match that, due to persistence, the locals deserved to win, but in which the Catalans added their first point of the season after an impressive exercise of resistance (0-0). 24 times they shot the locals without success, seven of them between the posts.
Red and white siege without precision or reward
There was curiosity to see how Atlético’s new duo worked and more sin Antoine Griezmannrelegated to the bench for rest. Without the Frenchman, the offensive flow of the colchonero team was turned to a left flank dominated by Samu Lino and Rodrigo Riquelme. Their partnership generated most of the local chances, which were not few.
Joan García thwarted the first goal of the ‘Spider’ as a red-and-white and Lino hit the post at the first opportunity. The start suggested a comfortable game for the red-and-whites, but the lack of accuracy frustrated their ideal story. Sorloth, much more involved than in his debut in Villarreal, He had three good chances to open the scoring. One was denied by the Espanyol goalkeeper and the other two went just wide.
From Espanyol, little news, but dangerous. A header went wide of Suitcase and a point-blank shot that Puado failed to get the ball into the goal and were on the verge of giving Atlético de Madrid a scare.
Riquelme, denied despite his great game
Despite the torrent of chances, Simeone decided to bring in the heavy machinery after the break. Julián and Molina stayed in the locker room and Griezmann and Llorente took to the pitch of the Metropolitan Civics with the aim of providing the precision necessary to open the can.
The goal was not found by them, but by Riquelmewho easily pushed in a loose ball after a messy play. He did so, however, from an offside position. This is where the nightmare of the youth playerwho played an extraordinary match, but was denied a goal time and time again.
After the goal was disallowed, Atlético’s momentum lost momentum. The minutes passed and the colchoneros were unable to score the first goal. Espanyol held on and waited patiently for their chancewhich was about to be used at the debutant’s feet CheddarThe Moroccan faced Oblak, but the Slovenian held firm to deny his shot.
The game broke up in the final minutes with chances for both teams that could have led to a goal. All that was missing was a fine move, a bit of accuracy to tip the balance. That touch of quality was brought back by Riquelmebut he lacked precision and a bit of luck. The forward beat Joan García, but again he did so in an offside position.
The Metropolitano, which was already falling due to euphoria, suffered its first disappointment of the season seeing how his team dropped two points in a match that could have been won in a thousand different ways.
