MADRID – Atletico Madrid turned the Metropolitano into a derby furnace on Sunday and made Real Madrid sweat, with Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David scoring in a 2-1 LaLiga win over their 10-man city rivals.
Antonio Ruediger gave Real late hope with an 89th-minute header from a free kick, but it was too little too late for Jose Mourinho’s side, who had been chasing the game with 10 men after Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half.
The victory lifted Atletico above Real into second place in the standings on 16 points, one ahead of Real and Betis and five behind leaders Barcelona, who beat Sevilla 3-1 on Saturday to make it seven wins from seven league games.
The home crowd turned the stadium into a red-and-white cauldron and Atletico fed off the atmosphere immediately, with David missing from point-blank range on a counter-attack inside the opening minute.
But the first half offered more snarl than sparkle.
The half’s flashpoint came in the 35th minute when Jude Bellingham was initially booked after a fierce challenge involving Cristian Romero.
VAR intervened and, after review, the referee rescinded Bellingham’s yellow card and instead booked Romero for stamping on the England midfielder’s thigh.
Real’s players were furious, arguing the Atletico defender should have been sent off.
They were protesting again right before the break, asking the referee for a red card for Lee Kang-in after the South Korean appeared to stamp on Federico Valverde.
Atletico returned from halftime with more intent and Alex Baena forced Thibaut Courtois into a fine save from distance before the Belgian denied Grimaldo with another strong stop.
Then the game tilted.
Giuliano Simeone raced behind the defence to chase David Hancko’s long pass and Huijsen, arriving late, pulled him down inside the box.
The referee awarded a penalty and showed the Real defender a straight red card.
Grimaldo converted coolly in the 53rd minute, sending a low spot kick to Courtois’ right to ignite the Metropolitano.
Six minutes later, Atletico doubled their lead. Lee and Giuliano Simeone combined down the right, and Simeone’s low cross found David, who threw himself forward to guide a first-time finish past Courtois.
Atletico nearly added a third in the 65th minute when Courtois denied Romero from point-blank range and Ibrahima Konate cleared Julian Alvarez’s follow-up off the line.
Ruediger’s late header briefly quietened the home crowd, but Atletico never looked in serious danger of surrendering their lead. Alvarez missed a golden stoppage-time chance to make the win more emphatic.
