Llorente double helps Athletic beat Atletico

Posted Friday, October 28, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Fernando Llorente scored twice as Athletic Bilbao hit three quickfire goals in the second half to beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 in the Spanish league on Thursday.

Llorente opened the scoring with a deflected effort in the 67th and extended the lead with a 71st-minute header at San Mames Stadium. Gaizka Toquero headed the third goal four minutes later.

“The team played very well with lots of intensity,” said Llorente, who has now scored four league goals this season. “They were two good team goals and now we’ve got to keep going like this.”

The win moved Athletic to 12 points and five games unbeaten as new coach Marcelo Bielsa’s methods show signs of taking effect after a shaky start to the season.

Defeat put Atletico coach Gregorio Manzano’s position under threat after five games without a win, including three draws and two losses.

“After the first goal we disappeared from the pitch and that’s something Atletico Madrid can never do,” Manzano said. “I don’t fear anything… If somebody had told me at halftime the game was going to finish 3-0, I would have said something abnormal must have happened.”

Athletic made the breakthrough when Llorente received a cutback in the box and prodded a shot that took a deflection off defender Filipe Luis to beat Thibaut Courtois.

Llorente, who had almost been substituted with a knee injury just before halftime until changing his mind and staying on the pitch, was given too much space by the Atletico defense to head the second from Toquero’s cross four minutes later.

Toquero added the third with a flicked header from a free kick soon after to secure the points.

Earlier, substitute Walter Pandiani scored the winning goal as Espanyol beat Real Betis 1-0 for a third straight victory.

The win pushed Espanyol up to sixth with 15 points from nine games, while Betis slumped to a fifth straight defeat after beginning the season with four wins.

Surprise package Levante leads the standings with 23 points, one ahead of Real Madrid, with three-time defending champion Barcelona in third, a further point back.