Atletico Madrid climbed into the top six of the Primera Liga courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Real Mallorca.
Valera, Forlan and Reyes on target in 3-0 success
Atletico Madrid climbed into the top six of the Primera Liga courtesy of a 3-0 victory over Real Mallorca.
Juan Valera, Diego Forlan and Jose Antonio Reyes grabbed the goals in a game which saw both sides reduced to ten men, while Atletico goalkeeper David De Gea pulled off a fine save from Pierre Webo's penalty at a key stage to prevent Mallorca from making it 2-1.
Atletico captain Antonio Lopez conceded the penalty when he tangled with Emilio Nsue on the edge of the area and was shown a straight red card.
Mallorca had looked hungrier in the early part of the game at the Vicente Calderon before defender Valera put the home side ahead when he glanced in a header from a Reyes corner in the 13th minute.
Moment of brilliance
Uruguay striker Forlan, who had not scored in the league since November, doubled the lead just after the half hour mark when he sprinted on to Fran Merida's through ball and rounded goalkeeper Dudu Aouate.
Then came De Gea's moment of brilliance, with the 20-year-old who has been tipped to one day succeed World Cup-winning keeper Iker Casillas in the Spain side diving to his left to palm away Webo's effort.
Tempers frayed late on and Mallorca midfielder Jonathan de Guzman was sent off in the 87th minute for a late tackle on Juanfran which sparked a round of pushing and shoving.
The dismissal took the spark out of the Balearic Islanders and Reyes exploited a huge gap at the back to add a third in stoppage time.
