Mandzukic lifts Atletico over Getafe
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Getafe, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Mario Mandzukic scored five minutes before the intermission on Sunday as defending La Liga champions Atletico Madrid claimed a 1-0 win over Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
Coming off an impressive 5-0 drubbing of Malmo in the Champions League in midweek, Atletico entered the match with an opportunity to climb the table after Barcelona dropped points to Real Madrid in El Clasico on Saturday.
But the visitors had a difficult time breaking down a stout Getafe defense for most of the opening half. The goal finally came in the 40th minute through former Bayern Munich man Mario Mandzukic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Things got worse for the hosts in the 57th minute as Alexis was shown a straight red card, reducing Getafe to 10 men.
Atletico held on to claim all three points and climb to fifth place in La Liga with 20 points, just two behind Barcelona for the top spot.
Getafe stays in 12th place with 10 points from nine matches played.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Also in La Liga on Sunday, four different players found the back of the net as Malaga rolled to a 4-0 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio La Rosaleda.
The hosts opened the scoring after six minutes through Samuel Garcia and Sergi Darder doubled the advantage in the 21st minute. Juanmi made it 3-0 on the stroke of halftime and Nordin Amrabat completed the rout with a penalty kick in the 49th minute.
Denis Suarez scored two minutes from time and Carlos Bacca converted a pebnalty in stoppage time to lift Sevilla to a dramatic 2-1 win over Villarreal at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Finally in La Liga on Sunday, Espanyol and Deportivo played to a scoreless draw at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat.