Atletico tops Cordoba to take over third place

Cordoba, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Antoine Griezmann and Saul Niguez scored first-half goals to propel Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 win at Cordoba on Saturday that moves the club into third place in La Liga.

Atletico maintains its lead on fifth-place Sevilla with the victory, while Valencia will have the chance to return to the top three with a win on Sunday over Villarreal.

Cordoba has now lost 10 straight games to remain on the bottom of the table with the club last collecting a point in January.

Atletico got off to a quick start by taking the lead inside of five minutes as Griezmann stole the ball in midfield and dribbled toward the penalty area before unleashing a shot inside the far post.

Cordoba goalkeeper Juan Carlos produced a fine stop to keep out Diego Godin's header 10 minutes later, but he couldn't prevent Atletico from doubling the lead six minutes prior to halftime.

A long throw in from Jesus Gamez found the head of Jose Maria Gimenez, and he redirected the ball into the path of Niguez, who rose up and nodded home Atletico's second goal.

The visitors took their foot off the pedal a bit after halftime and Bebe nearly pulled a goal back with a shot that rattled the crossbar, while Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak made a fine diving stop to deny an effort from Jose Angel Crespo.

Sevilla struck twice inside of 21 minutes to secure a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao as Aleix Vidal found the net in third minute before Carlos Bacca added a second goal.

Levante used a hat trick from David Barral to secure a 4-1 win at Almeria that moves the team three points clear of the drop zone, while Malaga and Real Sociedad finished 1-1 after Sociedad's Ruben Pardo scored the equalizer seven minutes from time.