FK Rostov 0 - 1 Atletico de Madrid: Atletico Madrid edge Rostov to maintain perfect record in Champions League

Posted Thursday, October 20, 2016 by PA

Yannick Carrasco scored the only goal of the game as Atletico Madrid maintained their 100 per cent record in Champions League Group D with a 1-0 win at Rostov.

The visitors went into the game on the back of a four-game winning streak culminating in a 7-1 thrashing of Primera Division rivals Granada on Saturday.

And although they were not able to repeat such a rout against a resolute Rostov defence, Carrasco's 62nd-minute volley from a Juanfran cross proved enough to give Atletico the points.

Rostov themselves had slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Spartak Moscow on Saturday and were under pressure to perform having taken only one point from their first two group games.

But they were forced on the defensive immediately with an error from goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanaev almost setting up an early opener for Angel Correa.

Dzhanaev redeemed himself with a fine save from Carrasco before the hosts came close to grabbing a shock lead through Sardar Azmoun, who hit his shot straight at Atletico keeper Jan Oblak.

Correa spurned another good chance and Fernando Torres hit a shot inches over the bar as Atletico struggled to make a breakthrough despite their first-half dominance.

Diego Simeone's side continued to push for the elusive opener after the break with Torres again firing just over the bar before Carrasco finally broke the deadlock with his clinical finish just past the hour mark.

The goal forced Rostov to show a little more ambition up front but, aside from the tricky Azmoun, they offered little and the visitors looked to exploit the space on the counter-attack.

Torres was guilty of wasting another good chance in the 72nd minute, then 10 minutes later he failed to convert Carrasco's corner into the box which found the former Liverpool striker completely unmarked.

Rostov might have capitalised three minutes from time when Oblak was forced into a rare save as he comfortably gathered an effort from Ecuadorian midfielder Christian Noboa.

Otherwise Simeone's men managed to play out time with the minimum of fuss to re-assert their authority at the top of the group and leave Rostov still in search of their first win.