Antoine Griezmann netted a brace as Atletico Madrid secured their 10th consecutive win across all competitions, defeating Slovan Bratislava 3-1 at home in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Atletico climbed to 10th place in the standings, with 12 points from six matches, while Slovan remained at the bottom of the 36-team table, having lost all six of their group games, thus missing out on a chance to progress to the playoffs.
Griezmann, who has now scored in five straight matches, opened the scoring with a header in the first half before adding a second with a simple finish at the near post in the second.
Julian Alvarez also got on the scoresheet, scoring a well-taken goal to give Atletico the lead.
Slovan managed to briefly reduce the deficit to 2-1 when David Strelec earned and converted a penalty.
Tigran Barseghyan also came close to scoring earlier, hitting the crossbar in the first half.
Atletico’s attacking form remains impressive, having netted 21 goals in their last five outings in all competitions, although they were somewhat wasteful in front of goal during this match.
Alvarez gave Atletico the lead in the 16th minute, pouncing on a mistake from Slovan defenders who gave him too much space on the edge of the box. He fired a pinpoint shot into the top corner to break the deadlock.
Slovan nearly equalized through a swift counter-attack that saw Barseghyan’s shot rebound off the crossbar.
Atletico doubled their advantage three minutes before halftime, as Marcos Llorente’s deep cross found Griezmann, who rose above the defenders to power a header past Slovan’s goalkeeper.
Slovan were awarded a penalty after Clement Lenglet fouled Strelec in the box, and Strelec himself converted from the spot to score his fourth goal of the campaign.
Any hopes of a Slovan comeback were quickly extinguished as Griezmann sealed his brace, slipping into space in the six-yard box to beat Slovan goalkeeper Dominik Takac at his near post.
