Atletico's title hopes take damage at Espanyol
Atletico Madrid's horrible form in March continued as Javi Puado scored a second-half penalty to earn Espanyol a 1-1 draw in LaLiga.
For the third league match in a row, Diego Simeone's side gave up a lead, with relegation-threatened Espanyol adding another dent to its opponent's title hopes.
There was little action in the opening half an hour, but Marcos Llorente thought he had given Atletico a third-minute lead, only for it to be disallowed as Antoine Griezmann was offside.
Marash Kumbulla's attempt to clear an Alexander Sorloth nod down reached Cesar Azpilicueta, whose calm right-footed shot from outside the box found the net in the 38th minute.
Sorloth missed a chance to double the lead shortly after the restart, missing by inches, and Espanyol was able to grow into the game.
Clement Lenglet's foul on Leandro Cabrera near the edge of the box saw the hosts awarded a penalty in the 69th minute, and Puado made no mistake from the spot, sending a powerful effort into the roof of the net from 12 yards.
Griezmann, who became the first non-Spanish player with the most LaLiga appearances in this game, attempted to find a late winner but saw his first-time low shot thwarted by Joan Garcia.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak rued his side's lack of consistency after the match, suggesting title hopes are now all but over.
"Two important points have slipped away. It's a strange moment, a difficult moment that we're not able to win," he said.
"We are not having the necessary consistency to be able to fight for LaLiga."
Coach Diego Simeone, meanwhile, rued Lenglet's challenge on Cabrera, which led to the penalty for Espanyol's equaliser.
"The draw was fair," Simeone said.
"We controlled the game better in the first half, we were doing well, we had good control of it.
"The penalty came from an isolated play and they scored the goal and the game went into a different territory, they had the home enthusiasm with their people to win.
"We know that in the season there are good moments, regular ones, bad ones. You have to know how to get through them and compete until the end."
Atleti will look to bounce back when it hosts Barcelona in the return leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final next week, having drawn the first leg 4-4.
"We have a very nice game on Wednesday and we hope to put all our energy and ability into playing a great game," Simeone added.
Atletico is now winless in its past three matches, having failed to end Espanyol's unbeaten home streak, and remains third on 57 points, six below leader Barcelona.
Espanyol sits two points above the relegation zone on 29 points.
