Avenger Morata kills Real Madrid with a brace

Revenge is a dish best served cold. Just ask Alvaro Morata. The 30-year-old striker was written off at Real Madrid despite going through their ranks and making a significant impact in his two senior spells with the Royals.

And on Sunday night, years after saying bye to Santiago Bernabeu, Morata had his moment of deserved vengeance. His two headers into the back of Kepa Arrizabalaga's net decided the Madrid derby, which ended in a 3-1 victory of Diego Simeone's slot.

Flawless Los Colchoneros exploited all the issues of Carlo Ancelotti's defence, severely struggling with a man-marking on the crosses. The fact all three of Atleti's goals were headers set up from the left-hand side proves the home team had a clear attacking plan and stuck to it all the way.

The second-fastest Madrid derby goal ever (Ronaldo Nazario da Lima netted against Atletico after just 14 seconds back in 2003) shocked the visitors. Lino launched a perfect cross from the left, and Morata reminded us of his grace, burying it low to break the deadlock only four minutes into the match.

That early kick in the gut seemed to have affected Los Blancos massively, who were brought to the ground again very soon. In a carbon copy of that opener, this time with different starring actors, Griezmann scored a lovely header, making it 2-0 after just 18 minutes.

With their backs to the wall in such an early stage, Ancelotti's boys struggled to bounce back as Cholo's mean machine kept pushing for another one. And they were so close to it on the counter when Saul fired from inside the box, but Kepa denied his effort.

The punishment was almost instant.

Real Madrid's veteran Tony Kroos smoothly dribbled near the edge of the box before firing superbly to beat Oblak and bring the suspense back. All of a sudden, the tensions were running high again, and the whites looked determined to turn things around.

Alaba's tap-in from the set piece was stopped, but unmarked Camavinga got his foot on a loose ball to score from a close range. The Royals' celebration was already underway when the referee spoiled it with a highly questionable offside call.

Rudiger was offside initially, but the defender was nowhere near the action that led to Camavinga's goal. The ref was adamant, and no VAR or Modric could make him change his mind.

Ancelotti went to the dressing room fuming, leaving the Croat there after the interval, and hoping Joselu could bring some more firepower to their attack. And the striker did it to some point, but it was just not enough.

Nor close to Morata's levels this night. The hero of the Madrid derby had risen again to restore a two-goal lead. Another cross from the left, another moment of Real's lousy defending, and Morata made it look so easy that every one of us got the illusion we could do the same.

Joselu, Alaba and Rudiger did their best to endanger their high-flying rival once more, but those were nothing more than decent efforts. And Real Madrid lacked the exquisite ones tonight.

Cholo outsmarted Carletto this time. Big time.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 6

Friday

Deportivo Alaves - Athletic Club 0-2 (0-1)

/Inaki 18, Sancet 76/

Saturday

Girona - Mallorca 5-3 (4-1)

/Lopez 26, Dovbyk 33, Martin 37, Herrera 45, Savio 57 - Muriqi 4 pen, Prats 89, 90+5/

Osasuna - Sevilla 0-0

Barcelona - Celta 3-2 (0-1)

/Lewandowski 81, 86, Cancelo 89 - Larsen 19, Douvikas 76/

Almeria - Valencia 2-2 (0-1)

/Arribas 59, 69 - Lopez 14, Guerra 63/

Sunday

Real Sociedad - Getafe 4-3 (1-2)

/Kubo 2, Oyarzabal 61 pen, 88, Mendez 66 - Alena 39, Mayoral 45+5 pen, Latasa 90+2/

Rayo Vallecano - Villarreal 1-1 (1-1)

/Perez 16 - Sorloth 15/

Las Palmas - Granada 1-0 (0-0)

/Rodriguez 90+2/

Betis - Cadiz 1-1 (0-1)

/Rodriguez 60 - Ramos 41/

Atl. Madrid - Real Madrid 3-1 (2-1)

/Morata 4,46 Griezmann 18 - Kroos 35/