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- Real Betis 1-0 Atletico Madrid: Giminez own-goal ends visitors' unbeaten start
Real Betis 1-0 Atletico Madrid: Giminez own-goal ends visitors' unbeaten start
Atletico Madrid missed the chance to close the gap at the LaLiga summit, losing to Real Betis courtesy of Jose Maria Gimenez's own-goal.
Jose Maria Giminez's own-goal dealt Atletico Madrid their first defeat of the LaLiga season as they lost 1-0 to Real Betis on Sunday.
Having won 10 of their previous 15 visits to the Estadio Benito Villamarin, Diego Simeone's side were outclassed as they lost pace with the early leaders in the table.
The decisive moment in the contest came in the fourth minute when Giminez deflected Abde Ezzalzouli's cross beyond Jan Oblak to hand the hosts a perfect start.
Betis looked to increase their lead before the break with Ezzalzouli striking the woodwork, while Vitor Roque also spurned several glorious opportunities.
Manuel Pellegrini's side continued to dominate proceedings, but struggled to find their second goal, with Roque seeing his effort ruled out for offside after the break.
Visiting substitute Angel Correa was twice denied by the woodwork late on, with the Argentine first hitting the post before cannoning an effort off the crossbar.
Atletico now sit fourth in the standings after 11 games of the season, finding themselves 10 points behind leaders Barcelona after their stunning win over Real Madrid.
Data Debrief: Unwanted history
It was a night to forget for Giminez, with his telling contribution at the wrong end of the pitch putting him in the history books.
The Uruguayan's unfortunate error hit the back of the net with three minutes and 15 seconds on the clock, the earliest own-goal Atletico have conceded in the 21st century.
Simeone's side have now lost three of their last five matches in all competitions (W1 D1), as many defeats as in their previous 20 matches (W13 D4 L3).
But Betis deserved their long-awaited victory on home soil against Atletico. They ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.95 from their 24 shots, compared to their opponents' 0.54 from their 10 attempts.