Lee Kang-In curls one in on debut and Atlético finally break Málaga down

For seventy minutes Málaga did the thing promoted sides come to Madrid to do: stay compact, stay in it, make the home crowd nervous. Atlético had 53% of the ball and not much to show for it.

Then Lee Kang-In cut in from the right and curled a left-footed shot inside the far post. First competitive appearance, first goal.

Baena over the wall

Álex Baena settled it on 85 minutes, clipping a shot over the wall and into the top corner. Two goals in fifteen minutes after nothing at all in seventy.

Málaga's goalkeeper made four saves and their side managed one shot on target all night — a 0.15 expected goals total against Atlético's 0.82. This was not a heavy defeat. It was a long one.

Match facts

• 70' — Lee Kang-In (Atlético Madrid)
• 85' — Álex Baena (Atlético Madrid)

What's next

Atlético host Villarreal on Sunday 23 August, against a side that came from two goals down at Racing Santander on the opening weekend. Málaga's first home game of the season is Deportivo on Monday 24 August — the other promoted club, and a rather more even test.

Atlético's start became a top-two case

That opening-day struggle against Málaga turned out to be more typical of the season's shape than the frustration suggested. Atlético drew 2-2 at home to Villarreal three days later, then won 3-1 away at Sevilla, before their heaviest defeat of the campaign so far, 0-3 away to Athletic Club on matchday 4. A 1-2 loss at Liverpool in the Champions League followed in midweek, leaving Diego Simeone's side searching for their footing in both competitions at once.

The response was three straight league wins: 3-0 away at Real Sociedad on matchday 5, 4-0 at home to Osasuna on matchday 6, and, on Sunday, a 2-1 derby win over ten-man Real Madrid at the Metropolitano — Alejandro Grimaldo converting the penalty won after Dean Huijsen's dismissal, Jonathan David doubling it, Antonio Rüdiger's 89th-minute reply arriving too late. Across those three matches Atlético scored nine goals and conceded just one, the kind of run that turns a stuttering opening day into second place in the table.

Seven matchdays in, Atlético sit second in LaLiga on 16 points from five wins, a draw and a loss — five behind leaders Barcelona and one clear of Real Madrid, the side they overtook on Sunday. It is a considerable turnaround from the nervy, goalless first seventy minutes against Málaga back in August, when a newly promoted side with no points on the board made the home crowd wait for a breakthrough.

Málaga still searching for a first win

Málaga's evening at the Metropolitano set the tone for a difficult return to the top flight. They drew 1-1 at home to fellow promoted side Deportivo on matchday 2, lost 0-4 away to Real Madrid on matchday 3, then drew back-to-back games — 0-0 at home to Levante on matchday 4 and 1-1 away to Celta Vigo on matchday 5. A 1-3 home defeat to Villarreal on matchday 6 and a 0-1 loss away to Getafe on matchday 7 followed, leaving them without a win in seven league matches.

Three draws are enough only for last place: Málaga sit 20th in LaLiga, bottom of the relegation zone, with three goals scored and twelve conceded across those seven games. The scoreline that separated the sides in August — a goal apiece from Lee Kang-In and Baena in the last twenty minutes — has proven closer to how the season has split than the tight match itself suggested at the time. Atlético kept building from it; Málaga are still looking for the win that would ease the pressure at the bottom.