Atletico capitalise on refereeing mishaps to beat PSV

Despite a number of fortuitous refereeing calls, Atletico Madrid escaped Eindhoven with three points, thanks to Saul Niguez’s stunning volley just before the interval.

The match, particularly the first-half, was marred in controversy, with English referee Martin Atkinson infuriating the home fans with his decision-making, Los Colchoneros taking advantage to start their Champions League campaign with a win.

PSV thought they had taken the lead in the opening minutes when Luuk de Jong nodded home from very close range, but the opener was chalked off for a dubious foul on Filipe Luis.An exciting end-to-end game broke out, even if neither side crafted any clear cut opportunities, but the home side felt they were due two attempts from 12 yards out when Luciano Narsingh was shoved to the ground by Diego Godin in the box and when the Uruguayan handled in the area – but Atkinson dismissed both claims.

Having been spared on three occasions, Los Rojiblancos capitalised with Saul’s 42nd minute goal, which wasn’t quite as special as his effort against Bayern last year, but which was still mightily impressive. As PSV tried to clear away a corner, he pounced from the edge of the area to rifle past the keeper, yet the goal was controversial as Dutchman Davy Propper was lying face down in the six-yard box with blood pouring from his head at the moment when Saul hit his volley.

The home crowd were incensed that Los Colchoneros played on, but Saul genuinely seemed unaware that the player was down and, despite the boos and whistles, Atletico were 1-0 up.Atkinson’s controversial evening was far from over, though, and minutes later PSV were finally awarded a penalty for their least deserving shout of the evening.Narsingh seemed to trip over his own feet under pressure from Jose Maria Gimenez, but the Englishman pointed to the spot.

Andres Guardado stepped up, but Jan Oblak sprung to his left to parry the shot away, sending the visitors into half-time with the lead. Diego Simeone’s second-half gameplan was to sit back and counter attack, which kept PSV at arm’s length while producing chances for Kevin Gameiro – who added another couple of misses to his Atletico ‘lowlights’ reel before being substituted in the 65th minute.

Godin continued his mission to give away a penalty with another needless handball, but again PSV received nothing more than a shake of Atkinson’s head.In the final few minutes – and with Tiago having to play on injured because all three substitutes had been used – the home side rained down on the Oblak’s goal, but nothing got passed him and Los Colchoneros could breathe a sigh of relief.

Fact sheet:0 – PSV Eindhoven: Zoet; Brenet, Schwaab (Gastón Pereiro, m. 80), Isimat-Mirin, Héctor Moreno, Willems; Narsingh (Bergwijn, m. 80), Propper, Guardado, Hendrix (Ramselaar, m. 66); Luuk de Jong.1 – Atlético: Oblak; Juanfran, Giménez, Godín, Filipe; Saúl (Fernando Torres, m. 77), Gabi, Koke; Gaitán (Tiago, m. 60), Gameiro (Carrasco, m. 65), Griezmann.Goal: 0-1, m. 43: Saúl.Referee: Martin Atkinson (England). Yellow cards: Héctor Moreno (m. 21), Gabi (m. 30), Luuk de Jong (m. 43), Giménez (m. 46+).Philips Stadion (Eindhoven): 35.000.