Getafe, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Atletico Madrid maintained its three- point margin atop the La Liga table on Sunday after earning a 2-0 victory over 10-man Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
Coming off a stunning upset of Barcelona in midweek to advance to the semifinals of the Champions League, Atletico took a little while to get rolling, but opened the scoring five minutes before the break when Diego Godin found the back of the net.
Atletico carried the play in the second half and were rewarded for the hard work in the 66th minute when Miranda was pulled down in the area by Getafe's Angel Lafita, resulting in a penalty kick and a red card.
Diego Costa stepped to the spot but failed to convert, keeping Getafe in the game with 25 minutes to play.
Playing with the extra man, however, the league leaders put the game to bed in the 84th minute when Adrian slid an inch-perfect ball across the face of goal for Costa to poke home on the slide for the two-goal margin.
The goal came at a cost however, as Costa had to be carried off the pitch after slamming his leg into the left post.
The result allows Atletico to maintain a three-point cushion over second-place Real Madrid atop the table with 82 points, while Getafe remains in the relegation zone with 31 points.
Also in La Liga on Sunday, Kevin Gameiro scored on either side of the intermission to hand Sevilla a comfortable 2-0 victory over 10-man Real Betis, while Daniel Parejo netted the winner just past the hour mark as 10-man Valencia held on for a 2-1 result against Elche.
In Sunday's final La Liga fixture, Diego Colotto scored two minutes from time to rescue a point for Espanyol in a 2-2 draw with Ray Vallecano.
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