Puado penalty helps Espanyol hold Atletico 1 1

BARCELONA, Spain - Atletico Madrid suffered a major blow in the LaLiga title race when they were held 1-1 at relegation-threatened Espanyol on Saturday after Cesar Azpilicuetas first-half strike was cancelled out by the home sides captain Javi Puado.

Third-placed Atletico are winless in three league games after drawing with Espanyol for the fourth time in a row as they sit six points below leaders Barcelona, who have played a game less.

The hard-earned point moved 15th-placed Espanyol two points clear of the relegation zone.

Two important points have slipped away. Its a strange moment, a difficult moment that were not able to win, Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said.

We are not having the necessary consistency to be able to fight for LaLiga.

Atleticos Antoine Griezmann, making his 521st LaLiga appearance to break Lionel Messis record of being the most capped foreigner in the league, found the net three minutes in but the offside flag was up.

However, Frenchman Griezmann made up for his early disappointment when he helped set up Atleticos breakthrough goal in the 38th minute.

Marash Kumbullas headed attempt to clear Griezmanns cross reached Azpilicueta outside the box, whose calm right-footed shot swung out of a diving Joan Garcias reach to find the net near the post.

It turned out okay, said Azpilicueta, who last scored in 2022, after bagging his first LaLiga goal in his 133rd appearance. Well, thats a lot of LaLiga matches without scoring.

Atletico almost doubled their lead just three minutes later from another mistake by Kumbulla, whose attempted clearance was intercepted by Conor Gallagher but the English midfielders shot from inside the box went wide of the far post.

Espanyol, who had only 39% possession in the match, were not having much success with their attack, but the home fans in the