Atletico Madrid 2-0 Real Betis – Diego Simeone’s side go third after Marcos Llorente winner

Atletico Madrid beat Real Betis 2-0 at home on Saturday in La Liga thanks to goals from Marcos Llorente and Luis Suarez after coach Diego Simeone sprung a double change at halftime.

Llorente put Atletico in front at the start of the second half, tearing into the box from the left wing and tucking the ball inside the near post from a tight angle.

Betis had played well in the first half and dominated the ball. However, Atletico took control of the game after Simeone hauled off Lucas Torreira and Thomas Lemar for Yannick Carrasco and Hector Herrera for the second period, instantly giving the team more pace and purpose in midfield.

Marcos Llorente opened the scoring at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium just after half time

Llorente is joined by his team mate in celebration, it was the striker second goal of the season

 Suarez has enjoyed a fine start to his Atletico career since his summer move from Barcelona

The Uruguayan forward scored his fourth goal in six appearance in the win over Real Betis 

Diego Simeone will be happy with his side’s response after their 4-0 loss to Bayern Munich

The visitors were reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Martin Montoya was sent off for hauling down Carrasco. The referee initially gave the defender a booking before he revised the play in a VAR review and changed it to a straight red card.

Suarez then struck in stoppage time after combining well with left back Renan Lodi to clinch a therapeutic victory for Atletico after Wednesday’s 4-0 thrashing by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

The win took Atletico into second in the standings on 11 points after five games, two behind Real Madrid who beat Barcelona 3-1 earlier on Saturday in the ‘Clasico’.