Atletico Madrid 5-0 Eibar: Correa and Llorente at the double for leaders

Atletico Madrid tightened their grip at the LaLiga summit after cruising to a 5-0 win over rock-bottom Eibar at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Los Colchoneros' bid for a first top-flight title since the 2013-14 season had faltered in recent weeks, but just a second win in six games keeps them a step ahead of neighbours Real Madrid. This result meant Real stood four points behind Atletico heading into a clash with Getafe later on Sunday.

Diego Simeone's home side were poor for much of the first half, yet Angel Correa struck twice shortly before the interval to give them a healthy lead.

Yannick Carrasco and Marcos Llorente added gloss to the scoreline in the second half as Atleti extended their unbeaten home run over Eibar to seven matches.

Despite a dismal start, which did not herald a shot until the 34th minute, Atleti went in at the break two goals to the good.

Correa opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, prodding in at the back post after Hector Herrera headed on Kieran Trippier's corner.

The man who made the breakthrough grabbed a second goal just two minutes later, superbly turning Anaitz Arbilla after collecting Carrasco's pass before slotting past Marko Dmitrovic from close range for his sixth goal of the season.

The hosts extended their advantage four minutes after the restart, Carrasco latching onto Saul Niguez's long ball over the top, rounding Dmitrovic and rolling into an empty net.

Correa turned provider for Atleti's fourth in the 53rd minute, his low pull-back into the middle of the penalty expertly dispatched by Llorente into Dmitrovic's bottom-right corner.

Llorente scored his 11th LaLiga goal of the season in the 68th minute, controlling Carrasco's pass before firing a half-volley past a hopelessly exposed Dmitrovic as Atleti sealed all three points in style.

What does it mean? Atleti on course for title

Atleti were well off the pace for 42 minutes against the league's bottom side, but a flurry of goals either side of half-time kept their title bid on track.

This was only their fifth win in 12 LaLiga matches following a prior run of eight consecutive victories, but as long as they remain in front of Zinedine Zidane's Real men and Barcelona they will dare to dream of a first title in seven years.

Correa delivers the goods

With Luis Suarez out injured, Atleti needed Correa to step up to the goalscoring plate and the Argentina international did not disappoint. In addition to his quickfire goals before half-time, he laid on Llorente's first – one of two key passes in his 61 minutes on the pitch.

If Eibar are to get relegated this season, it looks like they are going down with a whimper. Remarkably, they did not have a single shot as their winless run stretched to 14 games – their worst streak without a win in the top flight.

Key Opta facts

- Atletico have lost just one of their 14 matches against Eibar in LaLiga (W11 D2), a 2-0 defeat at Ipurua in January 2020.
- Atletico have kept clean sheets in nine of their 15 home games this season in LaLiga. That is the joint-most of any team in the league, equal with Sevilla.
- Correa's double was his first for Atletico, after 273 games across all competitions for the club.
- Llorente has reached 10 goals for the first time in a LaLiga campaign, scoring 11 goals in 30 games so far after netting only three times in his first 83 games in the competition.
- Carrasco has provided six assists this season in LaLiga, more than in any of his four previous seasons for Atletico.
- Eibar are winless in their last 14 LaLiga games (D4 L10), their worst streak without a win in the top-flight.

What’s next?

Both sides are in LaLiga action on Thursday, with Atleti hosting Huesca and Eibar visiting Granada.