Alavés 2 - Atlético Madrid 0

Alavés: Dutruel; Geli, Karmona, Abelardo, Llorens; Pablo, Turiel; Jordi Cruyff (Magno 80'), Ilie (Edu Alonso 70'), Ibon Begoña; Rubén Navarro (Iván Alonso 55'). 4-2-3-1.
Atlético: Esteban; Contra, Coloccini, Hibic, García Calvo (Carreras 54'); Nagore (Luis García 57'), Albertini; José Mari, Jorge (Javi Moreno 46'), Stankovic; Fernando Torres. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Alavés: Pablo, Jordi Cruyff, Ibon Begoña for Desio, Astudillo, Magno / Atlético: Albertini, Jorge for Movilla, Aguilera.

Goals:
1-0. 11. Rubén Navarro. Took pass from Ilie and shot over keeper from left of area.
2-0. 30. Ilie. Picked up ball on halfway line and ran past defence to chip Esteban.

Alavés beat Atlético Madrid 2-0 on a cold Saturday night in Vitoria to earn themselves a bit of breathing space in their fight for survival. Mané's side were only two points above the relegation spots at the beginning of the weekend, and they were up against a team riding high in the league, who could have moved into the top four, at least for 24 hours, had they won this match. The visitors turned up with three ex Alavés players in their squad, Coloccini, Contra and Javi Moreno, the first two starting the match for Luis Aragonés' side.

Atlético though had never even scored a goal in their previous four visits to the Mendizorroza stadium, losing three and drawing one, and they found themselves behind again in the eleventh minute when Ilie found Rubén Navarro for him to curl a shot wide of Esteban. Then on the half hour mark Ilie added a second himself with a superb solo run, picking up the ball on the halfway line and leaving Nagore and García Calvo for dead before chipping the ball over the advancing keeper. It was great news for Mané, who had been hoping for a performance like this from the Romanian forward since signing him from Valencia in the summer.

"The Cobra" continued to torment the Atlético defence throughout the first half, and substitute Iván Alonso came close to scoring again after the break when he hit the post. Aragonés brought on Javi Moreno in the second half, but he was unable to find a way past an excellent Dutruel. The visitors were starting to get back in the game though, and won a penalty when Llorens brought down Fernando Torres in the area. However Dutruel dived to save the young striker's spot kick, and recovered quickly to block Javi Moreno's follow up. Atlético fell to their second away defeat in the Basque country in a row following their visit to Osasuna, and have to wait a bit longer before they can join the top sides.