Las Palmas clinch last-gasp victory, dealing another blow to Atletico Madrid’s title ambitions

Atletico Madrid’s slim aspirations of clinching the LaLiga title have all but evaporated this season following a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of relegation-threatened UD Las Palmas. Diego Simeone’s squad now finds themselves ten points adrift of Barcelona, with only six league matches left to play.

The pressure was squarely on Atletico after Barcelona’s thrilling comeback victory earlier that day, where they edged past Celta Vigo with a scoreline of 4-3.

Las Palmas were the first to test the goalkeeper early on, with centre-back Alex Suarez’s diving header from Scott McKenna’s flick-on going straight to Jan Oblak just past the 20-minute mark. Shortly after, Dário Essugo attempted a long-range effort for the home side, but the young Portuguese player perhaps hesitated and shot wide when he had more time.

At the other end, a lack of communication between McKenna and Suarez allowed Giuliano Simeone’s cross to reach the back post. Fortunately for Las Palmas, goalkeeper Dinko Horkas was alert, stretching to deflect Julian Alvarez’s shot out for a corner.

Horkas was called into action again shortly afterwards, saving a well-placed header from Alexander Sorloth following another clever delivery from Simeone. As the first half came to a close, it was difficult to predict a winner in this tense encounter.

Atletico had a strong card to play in the form of Antoine Griezmann, who surprisingly started on the bench, while Sorloth led the line.

Neither manager opted to make any changes at half-time, but Atletico started the second half with a more aggressive approach. Suarez was precariously close to conceding a penalty as he narrowly avoided a handball while attempting to stop Conor Gallagher in the penalty area.

Just past the hour mark, Diego Simeone made the first substitutions of the match, bringing Griezmann on along with three other players. However, just before the change, Sørloth had a chance with a towering header, but it went astray.

Despite a late shot from Giuliano Simeone, Atletico struggled to create meaningful chances and were punished in stoppage time when Javi Munoz capitalised on a defensive mix-up to score, with VAR confirming the goal stood for offside, igniting scenes of jubilation.

This loss means Atletico have experienced back-to-back defeats away from home in the league for the first time since 1980, while Las Palmas, now sitting in 17th place, may look back on this match as crucial if they manage to escape relegation.