Griezmann among goals again as Atletico ease past Celta

In-form Antoine Griezmann scored one goal and made another as Atletico Madrid cruised to a 3-0 win over Celta Vigo in La Liga yesterday, consolidating their grip on second place. Griezmann opened the scoring just before the break at the Wanda Metropolitano with his 16th goal of the season in La Liga, his 11th in the last nine games.The France star, who continues to be linked with a summer move to Barcelona, then set up Vitolo to make it 2-0 before Angel Correa, on as a substitute, wrapped up the points for Diego Simeone’s side. It was a seventh win in eight La Liga outings for Atletico, the exception being last weekend’s 1-0 loss at Barcelona. As a result, the 2014 champions remain eight points behind league leaders Barca, but they are seven clear of Real Madrid in third. Celta are ninth. Barcelona were 2-0 winners at Malaga on Saturday with Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho on target, as Lionel Messi missed the game to attend the birth of his third child. Meanwhile, Real won 2-1 at Eibar thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo brace.“There is still a long way to go. We take things one game at a time and we will try to continue that way,” said Simeone of his side’s title chances. “My desire is to be in with a chance with five games left. Then we will be able to speak about something more.”Griezmann’s goal yesterday came a minute before the break as he controlled the ball at the back post following a corner and showed some brilliant footwork to take a Celta defender out of the game before firing into the far corner. He turned provider in the 56th minute with a pass for Vitolo, who beat Ruben Blanco in the Celta goal with a clipped finish.Vitolo’s last three goals in La Liga have now been for three different teams — he previously netted for Sevilla and then scored for Las Palmas against Celta earlier this season. Correa came in for Vitolo just before the hour and got on the scoresheet four minutes later, finishing low into the net after his initial effort had been blocked.It was Atletico’s second 3-0 win at home in four days after they beat Lokomotiv Moscow by the same scoreline in their Europa League last 16, first leg on Thursday. They head to Russia for the return this midweek, before visiting Villarreal next Sunday.Villarreal are sixth after a 2-0 win at struggling Las Palmas, secured thanks to a second-half Carlos Bacca strike and a stoppage-time Nicola Sansone penalty. Earlier yesterday,  Gerard Moreno got the winner, his 12th goal of the season, as Espanyol beat Real Sociedad 2-1.On Saturday, despite Messi’s absence Barcelona still had more than enough to beat Malaga. Messi was watching the game on a television in hospital as Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho put his team two up inside half an hour at La Rosaleda, before Samuel Garcia was sent off in the 30th minute for a dangerous tackle on Jordi Alba.Down a man and without a win in 12 matches, Malaga might have feared a rout but Barca settled for a straightforward victory, perhaps with one eye on Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 clash against Chelsea.On Messi’s withdrawal, Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said: “I found out this (Saturday) morning, before leaving home, I had already been called by the delegate of the club and he had told me the circumstances surrounding Leo. We already more or less knew when it might happen. It wasn’t very difficult to replace him because I had a clear idea of how the game would go.”Messi is expected back against Chelsea at the Camp Nou, where the score is 1-1 from the first leg, but Valverde will have been delighted with how his attackers filled the void, as Suarez, Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele all delivered excellent displays.In particular, Dembele’s brilliant turn and pass was bettered only by Coutinho’s flicked finish for what was a superb second goal.Spanish La Liga resultsEspanyol 2 (Leo Baptistao 51, Gerard 72) Real Sociedad 1 (Willian Jose 41)Atletico Madrid 3 (Griezmann 44, Vitolo 56, Angel Correa 63) Celta Vigo 0