Second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann, Gabi and Cristian Rodriguez secured a 3-0 win for Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey clash with L'Hospitalet this evening.
The La Liga champions were fortunate to avoid conceding a penalty when Bueno tumbled under a challenge from Mario Suarez shortly after the half-hour mark.
Alessio Cerci came closest to opening the scoring in the first period when the former Torino striker curled an effort wide after a clever run took him into the penalty area.
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Los Rojiblancos started to stamp their quality on the game in the second period, and Antoine Griezmann clipped the crossbar with a header three minutes after the restart.
The home side survived a scare shortly after when Jose Gimenez had an effort cleared off the line before Cerci was thwarted.
Atletico had the ball in the net seconds later although Griezmann had strayed offside in the build-up, but the France international was not to be denied.
The former Real Sociedad winger struck on 67 minutes when he headed in a cross from Jesus Gamez.
Gabi made the first-leg result safe when he converted from 12 yards after Agustin had pulled Cerci to the ground before Rodriguez struck a long-range effort in stoppage time.
Paul Gorst
