Diego Simeone was thrilled to see Arsenal loanee Lucas Torreira come off the bench to make a match-winning contribution in Atletico Madrid’s 3-1 victory over Osasuna this weekend, as he told Sport Finding.
Unai Emery tried in vein to turn this defensively-minded scrapper into a something more akin to an orthodox number ten. But Torreira’s well-taken finish on Saturday will have filled the former Gunners boss with pride.
The Uruguay international burst into the penalty area, just like Emery wanted him to, with 88 minutes on the clock at the El Sadar Stadium.
After bringing down a bouncing ball, Torreira lofted a classy finish into the roof of the net to give Atletico a two-goal cushion they desperately needed against an Osasuna side who, until then, were threatening an equaliser.
Simeone might have brought Torreira off the bench to shore up the midfield, but it was at the other end where the Arsenal-owned star made his mark.
“We made it 0-2, but they scored 1-2 and there was a lot of tension,” Simeone said after Atletico moved to within three points of table-topping Real Sociedad, having played two games less.
“Luckily, Lucas scored a great goal that allowed us to close a game that I think was very good.”
Speaking to Ovacion last week, a man who joined Arsenal for £27 million in 2018 admitted that he would be keen to turn his loan spell at the Wanda Metropolitano into a permanent transfer.
More game-changing cameos like this and he may well be putting pen to paper on a full-time contract at Atletico Madrid sooner rather than later.
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