Madrid (Reuters) – Atletico Madrid beat Real Betis 2-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
Laurent stopped Atletico in front at the start of the second half, tearing the box from the left side and tying the ball inside the adjacent post from a tight angle.
Bedis played well in the first half and dominated the ball. However, Atletico took control of the game after Simeone fell to Lucas Torrera and Thomas Lemaire for Yannick Carrasco and Hector Herrera in the second period, immediately giving the team more momentum and purpose in midfield.
Spectators were reduced from 20 men to 10 men when Martin Montoya was sent to drag Carasco. The referee initially booked the defender, but after the VAR review turned it straight into a red card.
After Bayern Munich fell 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday, Suarez stopped at stoppage time after a well-matched left-back Renan Lodi to give Atletico a theatrical victory.
“Bedis made things very difficult for us. We struggled in the first half, but in the second half we went out with the same mindset and were lucky to get the score very quickly, it gave us oxygen,” Laurent said.
“Simeon trusts us, we trust him. We trust ourselves too, together we form a very strong union. We made it clear today that we have the success we really need.”
The win puts Atletico second on 11 points after five games, two behind Real Madrid, who beat Barcelona 3-1 in the Clasico on Saturday.
Manuel Bellegrini, meanwhile, are 10th in the table with nine points after losing four of their last five league games.
Elsewhere, Sevilla suffered their second consecutive league defeat, falling 1-0 at home to Eber.
Julen Lopetegui’s side have failed to score in their last three matches in all competitions after a 0-0 draw with Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday.
(Report by Richard Martin; Compiled by Christian Ratnetz and Toby Davis)
