Half-Time Report: Antoine Griezmann puts Atletico Madrid in command against former club

Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann once again returned to haunt his former employers Real Sociedad during the first half of the La Liga encounter between the two sides at the Anoeta Stadium this afternoon.

The France international, who swapped San Sebastian for the Spanish capital in 2014, found the net when the teams met at the Vicente Calderon in April and he repeated that feat within 10 minutes this time around.

However, Griezmann's goal could have been Atletico's second of the game because with just four minutes on the clock Filipe Luis picked out an unmarked Koke inside the Sociedad area, but the captain sent his headed effort over.

Koke was more accurate, though, when he threaded a pass through for Griezmann, who sped away from the home defence before he beat Geronimo Rulli with a chipped effort.

Goalscoring opportunties were at a premium thereafter, with Sociedad's best of the half falling to Imanol Agirretxe shortly after Atletico had taken the lead. But, while under pressure, the centre-forward was unable to keep his effort down.

If David Moyes's hosts are unable to make an impact on the scoreline after the restart, depending on results elsewhere, they could end the weekend in the bottom three.