Betis 1 - Atlético Madrid 0

Betis: Doblas; Varela, Melli, Juanito, Oscar López; Arzu, Rivera (Lembo 92'); Joaquín (Fernando 89'), Edu, Capi (Tardelli 72'); Robert. 4-2-3-1.
Atlético: Falcón; Velasco (Galletti 83'), Perea, Pablo, Antonio López; Zahinos, Gabi (Kezman 73'); Maxi, Ibagaza, Petrov; Fernando Torres. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Betis: Varela, Arzu, Capi for Rivas, Marcos Assunçao, Xisco / Atlético: Gabi, Maxi for Colsa, Mario Suárez.

Goals:
1-0. 29. Capi. Ran on to pass from Robert and shot low across keeper.

Betis beat Atlético Madrid 1-0 on Saturday evening, a win which took the Andalusians out of the relegation spots pending the results of their closest rivals on Sunday. The visitors were hoping for a change of luck after coach Carlos Bianchi was dismissed during the week following their defeat in the cup, but his replacement Pepe Murcia fared no better. Maxi and Ibagaza did bring good saves out of Doblas early on, but a slip by Perea allowed Robert to set up Capi for him to shoot low across Falcón on the half hour mark.

Fernando Torres could have levelled the scores when he headed down past the post soon afterwards, and the Spanish international striker fired another shot wide close to the break. Falcón did well to keep out Joaquín in between though, and had to save again from the midfielder after the restart.

Murcia finally turned to Kezman, still not fully recovered from his knee injury, and a few minutes later brought on Galletti, a player who had little opportunity under Bianchi. Betis ran down the clock though with tactics which didn't endear them to the referee, and although Doblas had to fist away a dangerous Petrov free kick in injury time, the hosts held on for a second home win in a row. It was a tenth match in a row without a win for Atlético, and they ended the weekend just a point above their opponents in the table.