Atletico Madrid secured a dramatic 2-1 victory over 10-man Real Madrid in the La Liga derby on Sunday, leapfrogging their city rivals into second place. Diego Simeone's side now sit five points behind leaders Barcelona and one point ahead of Real, who suffered their second defeat of the campaign.

The match turned early in the second half when Real defender Dean Huijsen was sent off for pulling down Giuliano Simeone in the box. Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting penalty, and Jonathan David doubled the lead on 59 minutes with his third goal in three matches. Antonio Rudiger pulled one back late for Madrid, but it was too little, too late.

Jose Mourinho's decision to start Aurelien Tchouameni over Bernardo Silva in midfield backfired as Real struggled for creativity. The first half was a scrappy affair with more tension than quality. The main flashpoint was a clash between Jude Bellingham and Atletico's Cristian Romero: Bellingham was initially booked for a reckless tackle, but after a VAR review, the card was transferred to Romero. Madrid were also furious that Lee Kang-in's heavy challenge on Federico Valverde went unpunished.

Atletico's goalkeeper Jan Oblak denied Yan Diomande, while Bellingham's frustrations boiled over in a row with Giuliano Simeone. The hosts could have added a third, but Thibaut Courtois saved from Julian Alvarez and Ibrahima Konate headed Grimaldo's follow-up off the line. Rudiger's late header gave Real a glimmer of hope, but Atletico held on for a statement win that blows the title race wide open.

Source: www.aljazeera.com