Diego Simeone’s 700th game in charge of Atletico Madrid ended in a late 2-1 win over Deportivo Alaves in La Liga on Saturday.
This was after Alexander Sorloth rescued the home side with an 86th-minute winner at the Metropolitano Stadium.
Alaves took an early lead from the penalty spot but Antoine Griezmann equalised in the 76th minute with a spot kick of their own.
This was before second-half substitute Sorloth bagged his fifth goal of the season to seal all three points.
Atletico provisionally moved up to second in LaLiga, four points behind leaders Barcelona who have two games in hand, while Alaves dropped to 16th.
“It’s an incredible amount, 700 games. Congratulations to him. The result is for him and the supporters,” said his son Giuliano.
He livened things up in the second half and earned the man-of-the-match award in his father’s landmark game.
“Alaves came here to compete and they fought hard, they made it difficult for us. That’s the way they are, that’s how they always play.
“I’m happy for what I was able to do when I came on but what’s more important is that we won the game.”
Atletico found themselves on the backfoot in the seventh minute when Javi Galan conceded a penalty with a handball when he had his arm raised to block a cross.
Jon Guridi made no mistake from the spot when he sent Jan Oblak the wrong way.
The Metropolitano crowd fell silent after going 1-0 down but they found their voice when Griezmann set up Samuel Lino, who saw his shot smash into the crossbar before the visitors cleared the ball.(Reuters/NAN)
