Atletico rebound with Mallorca win

Atletico rebound with Mallorca win

Ten-man Atletico Madrid moved back up to sixth in the Primera Division table as they saw off Mallorca in an eventful clash at the Vicente Calderon.

Juan Valera headed home an early opener for the home side before Diego Forlan put them two goals to the good before half-time. But the drama came after the break as Atletico had Antonio Lopez dismissed for bringing down Mallorca striker Gonzalo Castro as he raced through on goal to concede a penalty.

However, Pierre Webo saw his spot-kick saved by David De Gea and the visitors were also reduced to 10 men late on as Jonathan De Guzman saw red for violent conduct, before Jose Antonio Reyes sealed Atletico's win in injury time.

Los Rojiblancos had appeared to be on their way to a routine win when they took a 13th-minute lead as a Reyes cross allowed Valera to powerfully head home. The lead was doubled in the 34th minute as Uruguay forward Forlan raced onto Tiago's pass to slot home his seventh goal of the season.

There appeared no way back for Mallorca until Lopez's rash lunge on Castro earned him a red card and gave Webo the chance to claw a goal back, only for the Cameroon international to be denied by a great save from De Gea, who tipped the ball round the post.

Mallorca surged forward in search of an equaliser and Castro saw his shot from the edge of the box cannon back of a post with De Gea beaten. But their hopes of salvaging a point were dented as De Guzman lashed out at Diego Costa and was sent off, with Reyes then finishing off a fine move to seal the three points for Atletico.