Diego Simeone was looking for a response after his side’s Champions League exit and a controversial 100th-minute penalty against Espanyol helped immensely. The reigning champions recorded a 2-1 victory at the Wanda Metropolitano and with it got themselves close to their tenth consecutive La Liga top-four finish.But it did not start as the home crowd wanted. It was the visitors who had the first chance of the game – Leandro Cabrera was unmarked inside the box from a set-piece, but his header was tipped over by Jan Oblak. The hosts failed to register a shot on target before the halftime break and to make things worse – lost Thomas Lemar to an injury that had the Frenchman in tears.Simeone’s displeasure at his side’s first-half display was evident and the Argentine reacted with a triple substitution at the break. The changes made Atlético more dangerous, but Espanyol nearly made a mockery of the Argentine coach’s bold decision – Aleix Vidal laid a chance on a plate for Sergi Darder, but his low driven effort was well stopped by the hosts’ Slovenian custodian.The home team eventually managed to get in front – just six minutes after being introduced, Yannick Carrasco cut inside to fire a shot that powered its way through the grasp of Diego López. After a turnover, Vidal was defending a counter-attack and the Belgian took advantage of the situation.Vicente Moreno’s men remained competitive, despite falling behind. Oblak was the busier of the two goalkeepers and he produced a fabulous stop to deny Raúl de Tomás an equaliser.Geoffrey Kondogbia received his second yellow card and holding on to a slender lead was made even tougher. The African was penalised for handball after the ball cannoned into his arm after first striking the boot of Felipe.De Tomás tried from the resulting free-kick on the edge of the box and he fired straight at Oblak – it was a horror moment for the usually-reliable shot-stopper as the ball burst straight through his hands and over the line.Carrasco looked to have secured a point for the visitors but a tremendous López save denied the hosts from taking the lead again. However, there would be a sting in the tail in extraordinary circumstances to help Atletico in the nick of time. De Tomás was a hero until the late moment when he conceded a penalty deep into stoppage time for an unclear handball. Man of the match Carrasco converted the penalty shot to send the home crowd roaring.Unfortunately for the guests from Catalonia – Espanyol have been defeated by the defending champions beyond the 98th minute twice in the same season. Sixty points out of 32 matches hold Los Colchoneros at fourth place while Espanyol are sitting safe in 11th.LA LIGA – ROUND 32FridayReal Sociedad – Betis 0-0SaturdayElche – Mallorca 3-0 (1-0)/Mojica 42, Bigas 58, Lee 81 og/Alaves – Rayo Vallecano 1-0 (0-0)/Joselu 64/Valencia – Osasuna 1-2 (0-0)/Soler 83 pen – Avila 50 pen, Budimir 74/Getafe – Villareal 1-2 (0-2)/Unal 63 – Moreno 7, Trigueros 16/SundayGranada – Levante 1-4 (0-1)/Collado 90+2 – Gomez 17, Morales 46 pen, Malsa 77, Soldado 90+5/Atl.Madrid – Espanyol 2-1 (0-0)/Carrasco 52, 90+10 pen – de Tomas 74/19.30: (1.92) Ath.Bilbao (3.50) Celta (5.00)22.00: (3.15) Sevilla (3.20) Real Madrid (2.60)***odds are subject to change
