Atletico Madrid player ratings as Antoine Griezmann changes fortunes to earn 8 after Sime Vrsaljko is sent off

Jay Asser 01:08 27/04/2018
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  • Antoine Griezmann evened the score with a late finish.

    From the early stages, it didn’t look like it would be Atletico Madrid‘s night as they first lost Sime Vrsaljko to two quick yellow cards before seeing their coach, Diego Simeone, head to the stands for exploding at the referee.

    But Arsenal could only muster a single goal against the 10 men, which was costly when Antoine Griezmann struck in the 82nd minute to force a 1-1 draw in the Europa League semi-final clash and change the tone of the night.

    Here, we look at how Atletico performed.

    STARTING XI (4-4-2)

    Jan Oblak – Was under constant pressure all night and managed to stop nearly all the shots that came his way, including a late dive that kept the score even. 8

    Lucas Hernandez – Played his part in holding Arsenal to one goal, but it wasn’t always clean or flawless. 6

    Diego Godin – Did well to clean up messes in the box early on but couldn’t stop Alexandre Lacazette from getting behind him and heading for Arsenal’s goal. 7

    Jose Gimenez – Lost the ball too often and his mistake might have led to Vrsaljko feeling the need to be overly-aggressive to pick up one of his yellow cards. 5

    Sime Vrsaljko – The Croatian wasn’t even on the pitch for 10 minutes before picking up two fairly-deserved yellow cards in quick succession. 1

    Koke – He was shaky in the first half and his errant pass on the edge of the box nearly spelt trouble as Arsenal almost had a clean look at goal. 5

    Saul Niguez – The Spaniard was adequate and had his moments in putting out fires. 6

    Thomas Partey – His strong run near the end of the first half almost improbably set up an Atletico goal and he was otherwise everywhere on the field. 7

    Angel Correa – Was one of the few attacking players on the field for Atletico, but didn’t have a chance to make much of an impact as they were forced to play defensive. 6

    Antoine Griezmann – Played the role of hero by bailing his side out with a late finish to grab a crucial away goal and give Arsenal misery. 8

    Kevin Gameiro – Wasn’t his night to make an impact as before he was subbed off, had to shift to a more defensive role to help with Arsenal flurries. 6

    SUBSTITUTES

    Gabi – Provided some fresh legs when he came on for Gameiro and helped fortify Atletico’s defence. 6

    Savic – Wasn’t on long enough to play much of factor after replacing Correa. N/A

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