Gameiro penalty boosts Atletico

Madrid April 2 (IANS) A first-half penalty into the top corner by France s Kevin Gameiro gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna in their Spanish top division football match at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium here.

Atletico s eighth straight clean sheet home triumph on Sunday was all the more impressive given that 11 of the 18 players called up have come up from the youth team system and the fact that the team was six players short due to injuries and bookings reports Efe news agency.

The penalty that led to the goal came in the 34th minute after Pedro Mosquera pulled on the jersey of midfielder Saul Niguez inside the 18-yard area.

Atletico s Jan Oblak showed his goalkeeping talents by twice denying Lucas Perez the forward of a Deportivo that has gone 15 La Liga games without a win placing the team 19th in the table eight points from safety.

Although the victory places Atletico nine points below Barcelona it maintains the team s gap over Real Madrid at four points ahead of next weekend s derby at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

--IANS
ajb/bg