Getafe 1-2 Atletico Madrid: Luis Suarez strikes at the death to send Atleti top of La Liga

A double from Luis Suarez saw Atletico Madrid come from behind to beat 10-man Getafe 2-1 in La Liga.

Atleti came into the match unbeaten in the league – three wins and two draws – but required stoppage time strikes against Villarreal (2-2) and Espanyol (2-1) in what had been an unconvincing start to the season.

Cross-city rivals Getafe have fared even less convincingly - with five losses from their opening five matches, scoring just once.

However, Míchel’s side took the lead after a couple of uncharacteristic errors from Jan Oblak in the Atleti goal.

First the Slovenian goalkeeper dropped a cross and while José Giménez hacked the loose ball away, the home side recycled it and Stefan Mitrovic saw his header - from a Nemanja Maksimovic centre – come back off the post to hit Oblak and trickle over the line.

The goal came on the cusp of half-time and it was no less than the Azulones deserved.

Atelti returned from the break renewed and with purpose. Antoine Griezmann went close from distance with a vicious, dipping effort10 minutes into the second half as the champions struggled to fashion chances of note. However, fortune swung in their favour on 74 minutes when Carlos Alena was sent off after a VAR review.

Suarez had netted 22 times in his 44 competitive matches for Atelti since his free transfer from Barcelona and he would add two more against Getafe – taking his total against the capital club to eight in 10 games.

First, having found a yard of space in the Getafe box he took down a Mario Hermoso pass before immediately lashing past David Soria to send the game to parity with 12 minutes to play. Then with the clock having passed 90 minutes, he positioned himself on the blind side of Mitrovic as Atleti attacked down the right and when Sime Vrsaljko’s centre dropped beyond the Getafe defender’s reach, Suarez pounced to head home the winner.

The win sends Diego Simeone’s men top of the league on 14 points from six games. City rivals Real – who face Mallorca on Wednesday – are second on 13 points having played a game less.

Elsewhere, Radamel Falcao scored again as Rayo Vallecano beat Athletic Club 2-1 at San Mamés, and RC Celta beat Levante UD 2-0 at Ciudad de Valencia.