Atletico Madrid ease to Elche victory

Atletico Madrid closed their gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to nine points with a 3-0 win over Elche at the Vicente Calderon this evening.

Two second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann either side of a Raul Garcia strike were enough for Diego Simeone's champions, who bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit to fierce rivals Real Madrid.

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Garcia went close with a couple of chances in the first half before Fernando Torres's effort flew over the crossbar shortly before the break.

Griezmann should have scored sooner than he did when he met Guilherme Siqueira's low cross with an effort that flashed over the bar two minutes into the second period.

However, the France international finally broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half when he pounced on a loose ball after Koke had been denied with a volley.

Garcia then squeezed the ball home with a low effort after the hour mark, before Griezmann pounced once again on 77 minutes for his eighth goal in his last five La Liga games.