Atlético Madrid 5 - Málaga 0

Atlético: Leo Franco; Velasco, Perea, Pablo, Antonio López; Maxi, Luccin (Colsa 69'), Gabi, Petrov (Valera 66'); Kezman, Fernando Torres (Manu Del Moral 80'). 4-4-2.
Málaga: Goitia; Gerardo, Litos, Alexis, Ribeiro (Bovio 46'); Anderson Silva, Hidalgo (Chengue Morales 71'); Edgar (Gabriel 73'), Duda, Nacho; Salva. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Atlético: Perea, Gabi for García Calvo, Ibagaza / Málaga: Goitia, Anderson Silva, Hidalgo, Nacho for Arnau, Bovio, Juan Rodríguez, Gabriel.

Goals:
1-0. 05. Fernando Torres. Following up after Goitia pushed out Maxi shot.
2-0. 09. Fernando Torres. Shot past keeper after Kezman tackled inside box.
3-0. 39. Maxi. Shot on far post after Kezman headed on Petrov free kick.
4-0. 67. Valera. Ran past two defenders and fired in shot from outside area.
5-0. 90. Valera. Header down on far post from Gabi's long free kick.

Atlético Madrid moved to within a point of the European spots pending Sunday's games after beating bottom club Málaga 5-0 on Saturday evening. Within ten minutes Fernando Torres had swooped to score twice, the first after Goitia (making his first start in place of the injured Arnau) could only push out a shot from Maxi, and the second after the ball fell to him inside the area. Petrov tested the keeper a couple of times from free kicks later on before Maxi added a third after Kezman headed on Petrov's cross.

Just before the break Atlético had a chance to make it four when Maxi was felled by Goitia in the area, giving away a penalty. Torres had not missed a kick all season and was the logical person to take it to complete a hat-trick, but Kezman asked if he could to try and break his recent goal drought. However Goitia guessed correctly and stopped the shot from the Serbian striker.

That didn't change things though, and as the second half rolled on without too many problems, Pepe Murcia decided to take off Petrov to protect him from a possible fifth yellow card and subsequent suspension for the derby game next week against Real Madrid. Valera came on, and within seconds he made his mark with a shot from outside of the box which curled away from the keeper.

Málaga had hardly troubled Leo Franco all night, and things got worse when Duda was sent off for a foul on Kezman. With the game coming to a close Valera headed his second of the night from Gabi's free kick to make it six wins in a row now for his side, Atlético's best run in fourteen years. The visitors return home with nothing once again, and the change of manager does not appear to have altered anything.