Conor Gallagher scores first La Liga goal as Atletico Madrid ...
'I can barely speak Spanish!' - Gallagher and Alvarez presented in front of Atletico Madrid fans
Conor Gallagher opened his account in La Liga with a fizzing strike as Atletico Madrid comfortably brushed aside Valencia 3-0 to continue their unbeaten start.
Picked for his second competitive start by Diego Simeone, Gallagher latched onto a beautifully weighted through ball from Rodrigo De Paul and fired under Giorgi Mamardashvili to open the scoring at the Estadio Civitas Metropolitano six minutes before half-time.
The former Chelsea man played the full game after he was selected, but unused, by interim England manager Lee Carsley during the international break. Stationed on the left of a midfield three, he also played a minor role when Antoine Griezmann doubled Atletico’s lead as a decoy runner into the box.
Gallagher was not the only new arrival celebrating - Julian Alvarez scored his first goal for Atleti after coming off the bench as a second-half substitute.
The win meant Atletico Madrid moved up the Liga table, level on 11 points with Real Madrid and Villarreal on the same day that leaders Barcelona continued their perfect start with a 4-1 rout of Girona, teenager Lamine Yamal scoring a brace as his meteoric rise continued.
Simeone has experimented with Gallagher and his starting XI more widely in the opening five games of the Spanish season, also deploying the €42 million signing in an attacking pair with Griezmann behind Alvarez against Athletic Bilbao and benching him for the visit of Espanyol.
It remains to be seen whether Gallagher will play in Atletico’s UEFA Champions League opener against RB Leipzig on Thursday, but he pressed his case with an industrious performance as the top-tackling midfielder alongside the goal.
And Gallagher made an important clearance as Valencia attempted to mount a late comeback from 2-0 down, before Alvarez’s 93rd-minute tap-in with the three points already secured. Rodrigo Riquelme surged forward in an Atletico counter-attack but fired straight at Mamardashvili after a heavy touch in the penalty area, but the ball fell for Alvarez to fire into an empty net.
Simeone’s side face Rayo Vallecano and Celta Vigo in La Liga before Gallagher faces England team-mate Jude Bellingham in the Madrid derby on the last weekend in September.
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