Sorloth rescues a late point for 10-man Atleti
Atletico Madrid wasted a golden opportunity to go top of the LaLiga table after it was held to a 1-1 draw at home by Celta Vigo.
Diego Simeone's side played almost the entire game a man short, after midfielder Pablo Barrios was shown a straight red card for a reckless studs-up tackle on Pablo Duran only four minutes in.
The hosts were in further trouble when Robin Le Normand fouled Borja Iglesias inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty to Celta.
Iago Aspas stepped up and converted the spot-kick to give the visitors the breakthrough in the 68th minute.
But Alexander Sorloth came off the bench to finish off a counter-attack in the 81st minute and rescued a valuable point for the home side.
The result left Atletico one point behind leader Real Madrid, which was also held 1-1 by Osasuna earlier in the day, after 24 games in the Spanish top division.
Barcelona is third on 48 points and could move to the summit with a win against Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday (AEDT).
Simeone described his Atletico players as "gladiators" and rated their performance a 10 out of 10 after the final whistle.
"If I had to grade it from one to 10, I clearly have to give my players a 10," Simeone said.
"To play almost 90 minutes with one man down is something I've seen very few times and they managed to defend well, controlled the attacks of an opponent who plays aggressively.
"They had few chances except for the penalty, but we managed to equalise and we were encouraged to play for the win with what we had left in the tank.
"It was an obstacle that was put in front of us but we passed and that will make us stronger.
"The boys are in a good moment and what I saw out there after the red card, we were gladiators... Ninety minutes with one down, you know? It's very, very tough."
