Atletico Madrid stay two points clear at the top of La Liga after narrowly beating Elche courtesy of Marcos Llorente's first-half strike, as Real Madrid beat Osasuna; Neymar on target as PSG overcome Lens but Lille beat Nice to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
Saturday 1 May 2021 22:24, UK
Atletico Madrid stayed in charge of La Liga's four-way title race by earning a nerve-shredding 1-0 victory at struggling Elche on Saturday, riding their luck to the extreme when the hosts missed a penalty in stoppage time.
Marcos Llorente scored the only goal with a deflected shot in the 23rd minute but gave away the penalty in the 90th after a careless handball as Atleti defended a free kick after sitting on their slim lead rather than looking to put the game to bed.
Elche midfielder Fidel Chaves's spot kick beat goalkeeper Jan Oblak but came off the post, providing another twist in an action-packed game in which Atletico had two goals ruled out for offside and a penalty award taken away following a VAR review.
Fidel's spurned penalty threw Diego Simeone's side a lifeline in a thrilling title race while leaving Elche still 18th and in the relegation zone. They would have moved out of the drop zone if Fidel had scored from the spot.
The win took Atletico to 76 points with four games left, two points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who beat Osasuna later on Saturday 2-0, and third-placed Barcelona, who visit Valencia on Sunday. Sevilla, on 70 points, host Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
It was the second time this season Atleti had benefitted from their opponents squandering a late penalty, with Oblak saving from Alaves' Joselu to secure a 1-0 home win in March.
It was also the second stroke of fortune in three days for Atletico, who sank to a chastening 2-1 defeat at Athletic Bilbao last week and looked set to lose top spot to Barca, who then fell to a shock 2-1 loss at home to Granada on Thursday.
Atletico went on the attack early on against Elche and should have taken the lead after a slick move between Angel Correa and Luis Suarez, who could only find the side-netting.
Suarez did manage to put the ball in the net soon after following a move with Llorente but was left frustrated again when the goal was ruled out after a VAR review for a fractional offside.
The Uruguayan missed the target early in the second half and then had a second goal chalked off, this time for a clear offside.
Suarez was replaced by midfielder Saul late on as Simeone sought to protect Atletico's lead. The move almost backfired but, somehow, his side are still in pole position in the title race.
Real are breathing down their necks, though, after Eder Militao and Casemiro scored late on against Osasuna.
Real had 22 shots at goal but it took them until 14 minutes from time to make the breakthrough, before a second strike four minutes later allowed them to re-focus their attentions on Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Chelsea.
Further down the table, Huesca moved out of the relegation zone on goal difference with a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad, and bottom club Eibar kept their survival hopes alive with a 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Alaves.
Inter Milan won 2-0 at last-placed Crotone on Saturday to give themselves a chance of clinching Serie A before the weekend ends.
Inter moved 14 points clear of Atalanta with four games to play and if Atalanta do not win at Sassuolo on Sunday, Inter will seal their first league title since 2010.
Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen scored the opening goal midway through the second half in a move that began with a back-heel flick from fellow substitute Alexis Sanchez.
Four minutes after the subs went on, Romelu Lukaku took Sanchez's creative pass and left it for Eriksen to score with a drive that deflected in off a defender.
Achraf Hakimi sealed it for Inter by finishing off a counterattack in stoppage time.
Earlier, a late equaliser from Riccardo Saponara earned Serie A debutants Spezia a much-needed point at Hellas Verona in a 1-1 draw, while AC Milan rounded off the day's action with a comfortable 2-0 win over Benevento to move above Atalanta into second ahead of their game on Sunday.
Hakan Calhanoglu got Milan up and running with a strike on six minutes before Theo Hernandez sealed the win on the hour. However, 13 points behind Inter with 12 points left to play for, AC Milan can not catch their rivals.
Paris Saint-Germain went top of the Ligue 1 standings briefly on Saturday, after Neymar scored and set up another goal in a 2-1 home win against RC Lens on Saturday. However, Lille's 2-0 win over 10-man Nice later in the day restored them to the French top flight summit.
Neymar netted in the first half and crossed for Marquinhos to score after the break to put PSG, who travel to Manchester City looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit in their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, on 75 points with three games left.
Promoted RC Lens, who reduced the arrears at PSG just past the hour mark through Ignatius Ganago, stayed fifth on 56 points, ahead of Olympique de Marseille on goals scored.
With Kylian Mbappe rested and Marco Verratti on the bench, Neymar took charge and put PSG ahead after 33 minutes when he fired home from inside the box after being set up by Julian Draxler, who had dispossessed the snoozing Facundo Medina.
Lens forward Arnaud Kalimuendo was a threat to the PSG defence but the visitors lacked efficiency up front.
Just before the hour, PSG doubled the advantage as Marquinhos rose above Medina to head Neymar's whipped cross home with the hosts seemingly heading towards a routine victory.
Lens, however, made sure the reigning French champions stayed on their toes as Ganago found the back of the net with a half-volley from Jonathan Clauss' cross. On Sunday, third-placed Monaco, who have 71 points, and Olympique Lyonnais in fourth (67) meet in the principality
Lille, who have 76 points, reclaimed top spot with goals from Burak Yilmaz and Mehmet Zeki Celik to sink Nice, although their task was made easier when Jordan Lotomba was shown a red card with the score at 1-0.
