Atletico Madrid and Eibar played out an exciting five-goal thriller at Wanda Metropolitano with the hosts coming from behind to maintain their 100-per-cent record this season.
Joao Felix scored first for the hosts after they went 2-0 behind. Vitolo and Thomas Partey notched in the second half to complete the comeback.
The Portugal youngster registered his first league goal for his new club and continued acting as the focal point of Atletico’s attack. We inspect his performance:
Key stats
Minutes: 84
Goals: 1
Assists: 0
Shots (on target): 1 (1)
Passes (success rate): 13 (9)
Key-passes: 0
Dribbles: 0
Aerials Won: 2
[🤝] Partners 😉
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) September 1, 2019
🕹 @diegocosta ➡ Assist
⚽ @joaofelix70 ➡ Goal
⚽ #AtletiEibar
🔴⚪ #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/v1U0PhGcqd
30-second report
Felix displayed a lacklustre performance. He netted from Diego Costa’s cut-back but endured a challenging night at the Metropolitano.
The 19-year-old did not produce magical moments that he promised during the friendlies. He struggled to get used to Eibar’s physicality and could need some time to adapt to the league.
Felix came off in the 84th minute for Partey, who eventually scored the winner.
Got right – Link-up
Felix linked up beautifully with striking partner Diego Costa and Thomas Lemar in midfield. The Portuguese opened Eibar’s defence on the counter with an inch-perfect through-ball to the Spaniard and finished the move off by arriving just in time to net the cut-back.
The former Benfica man dropped to receive the ball and linked well with the midfielders. But his chemistry with Costa has to be his key take-away from the game.
Got wrong – Physicality
Felix’s thin frame will is susceptible to being bullied in La Liga.
Eibar provided the youngster with a taste of what other physically superior teams such as Espanyol could offer. Felix struggled and went to ground frequently.
He also dived in the box twice, with the referee falling deaf years to his shout for a penalty. Defenders in Spain don’t take players who go down easily kindly. Felix needs to adapt to the league and show more strength before going down.
Summary
This performance was not a fair reflection of what the 19-year-old is capable of.
Felix needs to get involved in Atletico’s play more often and take the initiative himself. He also needs to work on the physical aspect of his game.
The Portuguese is just 19 and is very likely to improve at all aspects of his game.
The key takeaway, however, from this game is that Felix can mask an average performance by being clinical in front of goal. After all, his goal laid the foundation to Atletico’s comeback.
Rating: 5/10
