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La Liga
Dec 21, 2014 at 8pm UK
 
AM

1-4

Rico (17')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Griezmann (46', 73', 81'), Garcia (53' pen.)

Player Ratings: Athletic Bilbao 1-4 Atletico Madrid

:Headline: Player Ratings: Athletic Bilbao 1-4 Atletico Madrid: ID:195012: from db_amp
Sports Mole analyses individual performances from Atletico Madrid's rousing 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.

Antoine Griezmann struck a second-half hat-trick as Atletico Madrid came from behind to beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at San Mames tonight.

Mikel Rico headed the hosts into a thoroughly deserved half-time lead, but the Spanish champions rallied and Griezmann nodded home the equaliser within 30 seconds of the restart.

Raul Garcia then converted a penalty minutes later to turn the game on its head, before the Frenchman bagged his second and third goals of the night later on to cap a fine comeback.

Here, Sports Mole sorts the heroes from the villains from tonight's encounter.



ATHLETIC BILBAO

Goal

Gorka Iraizoz: More or less blameless for all four goals, and Atletico only had five shots on target so the keeper had very little to do other than pick the ball out of his net. (5/10)

Defence

Oscar de Marcos: Shackled Turan well throughout the first half, but partially at blame for the equaliser after simply standing by as Griezmann restored parity. (5/10)

Carlos Gurpegui: Produced an excellent first-half performance in a relatively unfamiliar centre-back role, but inexplicably slipped in an incident which allowed Griezmann to add a third and killer goal. (5/10)

Xabier Etxeita: Solid defensive display in the first half to render Griezmann little more than a spectator, but the French winger regularly got the better of him in the second half. (5/10)

Mikel Balenziaga: Looked a real attacking outlet in the first half as the left-back got forward regularly, but became less adventurous as the game went on. (5/10)

Midfield

Mikel Rico: Scored his first goal of the season to open the scoring, but the midfielder faded badly and was slightly culpable for at least one of the four second-half goals. (5/10)

Markel Susaeta: Grabbed an assist with a perfectly weighted free kick for Rico to head home in what his only real contribution tonight. (5/10)

Mikel San Jose: Desperately unlucky to have a penalty awarded against him after Tiago looked to have intentionally tripped over his leg. Good midfield performance other than that. (5/10)

Unai Lopez: Somehow managed to last 70 minutes as the game truly passed him by. No surprise to learn that he is still awaiting his first goal this season. (3/10)

Iker Muniain: One of Bilbao's better players in a first half that they dominated, but was nowhere to be seen in the second half and was booked for a malicious foul on Gimenez. (5/10)

Attack

Aritz Aduriz: Missed the best chance of the game to put Bilbao two goals up shortly before half time, but he over-played it and paid the penalty. It turned out to be a very costly miss by virtue of Atletico's second-half comeback. (5/10)

Substitutes

Ibai Gomez: Delivered one or two decent crosses into the area but came on when the game was firmly beyond Bilbao. (5/10)

Guillermo: Had 20 minutes in which to make an impact but he never really got going. (5/10)



ATLETICO MADRID

Goal

Miguel Angel Moya: Like his opposite number, Moya was blameless for Bilbao's solitary goal and the hosts only managed one other shot on target in 90 minutes. Quiet game. (5/10)

Defence

Juanfran: Never really found himself tested defensively, and did not often venture forward, but did swing in a wonderful cross for Griezmann to head home and level up the scores early in the second half. (6/10)

Jose Gimenez: The youngster looked a little suspect at times, and Godin did not help after appearing to criticise him on occasions. (5/10)

Diego Godin: Looked nowhere near his best in an error-laden first-half performance that saw Aduriz get the better of him on quite a few occasions, but eventually showed his class in the second half. (6/10)

Guilherme Siqueira: Far too cautious in the first half but slowly grew more adventurous and more willing to cross the halfway line as the game went on. (5/10)

Midfield

Tiago: Brought all the theatrics of a nativity play into this festive affair after more or less diving to win a second-half penalty. It marred an otherwise decent midfield performance. (5/10)

Gabi: Plenty of endeavour but that is about all the midfielder had to offer in what proved a quiet night at the office. (4/10)

Saul: More or less a spectator that bizarrely lasted 79 minutes before being replaced by Jesus Gamez. (4/10)

Arda Turan: Grabbed a cracking assist in setting up Griezmann's second to salvage some pride after a wayward first-half showing. (5/10)

Raul Garcia: Showed a cool head to convert the penalty but had very little impact overall. (5/10)

Attack

Antoine Griezmann: Endured an awful first-half performance as Atletico's spearhead, but gradually grew into the game and bagged two good goals to guide the Rojiblancos to victory. (8/10)

Substitutes

Jesus Gamez: Only had five minutes to make an impact. (5/10)

Lucas Hernandez: Introduced on 88 minutes. (5/10)


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