Madrid, Jan 13 (IANS): A tenacious Atletico Madrid managed to overcome Levante's staunch resistance to earn a 1-0 La Liga win, extending its home winning streak to six matches here on Sunday.
Atletico extended its unbeaten La Liga run to 16 league matches on the strength of a penalty kick successfully converted by France forward Antoine Griezmann.
The home side was eager to win and keep pace with standings leader Barcelona, who was set to take on Eibar later in the day, reports Efe news.
Montenegro center back Stefan Savic had a chance to give Atletico Madrid the lead with a header in the first minute, and an electric Griezmann also tried to score repeatedly, but all efforts were smothered by Levante's Spanish goalkeeper Oier Olazabal.
Making his starting lineup debut of the 2018/2019 season, Spain winger Victor Machín Perez, best known as Vitolo, proved to be a headache for Levante down the left side.