Ten-man Atletico salvage late draw against Villarreal

Atletico Madrid and Villarreal shared the points in a 2:2 draw in round two of Spain's La Liga, with the hosts needing a stoppage-time goal to avoid defeat.

Match summary

The first half was closely contested, with Atletico registering more shots while Villarreal held a slight edge in possession, though neither team found the net before the break. After the restart, the hosts broke the deadlock through defender Marcos Pubill, who curled a precise shot into the far corner from the edge of the box.

The home side's lead did not last long. Villarreal were awarded two penalties in quick succession - first for a foul on their Canadian midfielder, and later after a VAR review overturned an initial no-call for a foul on their Georgian forward inside the box. Both spot-kicks were converted, putting the visitors ahead 2:1.

Atletico's afternoon got worse when defender Robin Le Normand was shown a straight red card for a professional foul that stopped a dangerous attack. Head coach Diego Simeone and midfielder Morten Hjulmand also picked up yellow cards for protesting the officials' decisions.

Late equalizer

Despite playing a man down, Atletico found a way back late in the match. Diego Simeone's son, Giuliano Simeone, converted a pass from Alex Baena to level the score with a finish into the far corner.

In stoppage time, Villarreal nearly snatched a winner when a defensive lapse left Tajon Buchanan one-on-one with goalkeeper Jan Oblak, but the Slovenian made the save to preserve the draw.

Standings

The result means Atletico, along with Alaves and Espanyol, failed to open the season with two straight wins. Atletico now shares second place with Alaves on four points after two rounds, while Villarreal remain winless with two draws from two matches.