Madrid's Champions League semi-final against
Real Madrid on Tuesday by hitting a double in a
resounding 5-0 LaLiga victory over Las Palmas,
who finished the match with 10 men.
France international Gameiro was in Diego
Simeone's first XI for the first time since a 3-1
victory over Sevilla on March 19 and made his
mark with two impressive first-half goals at the
Estadio Gran Canaria on Saturday.
The striker turned home the opener inside two
minutes and added his second after a Saul Niguez
header had made it 2-0, Atletico scoring three
goals inside the opening 20 minutes of a LaLiga
game for the first time since 1957.
Gameiro was denied his hat-trick by the post
before Simeone opted to rest him ahead of the
upcoming Champions League first leg at Santiago
Bernabeu, sending Fernando Torres on in his place
just before the hour-mark.
Having been booked in the first half for a high foot
on Lucas Hernandez, the replacement for
suspended centre-back Diego Godin, Kevin Prince-
Boateng was shown a second yellow card when he
caught Jose Gimenez with an elbow 25 minutes
from time.
Gimenez sustained an adductor injury in the
challenge and was replaced by Thomas Partey,
who, along with Torres, added further gloss to the
scoreline to open up a three-point gap on fourth-
placed Sevilla, who travel to Malaga on Monday.
Atletico got off to a great start when Gameiro got
away from Pedro Bigas inside the box to steer
Saul's tantalising cross into the top-right corner.
It got even better for Simeone's side and two goals
in quick succession effectively put them out of
sight after just 18 minutes.
Saul added to his prior assist by leaping above
Bigas to power Koke's right-wing corner beyond
Las Palmas goalkeeper Javi Varas, though the
centre-back claimed he had been fouled in the
process.
Before Las Palmas could take stock of the situation
it deteriorated further, with Nicolas Gaitan sliding a
pass through to Gameiro and the striker held off
Dani Castellano to fires past Varas.
Atletico eased off and allowed Las Palmas to enjoy
a greater share of the possession, but they
struggled to test Jan Oblak and former Real Madrid
forward Jese Rodriguez was booked for diving after
going past Gimenez in the box.
Gameiro almost completed his hat-trick within
three minutes of the restart when he slid to meet
Antoine Griezmann's low cross from the left and
diverted it onto the upright.
Alen Halilovic forced Oblak into a strong save with
a dipping effort from outside the box before
becoming the second Las Palmas player to be
booked for simulation in the 56th minute.
The referee went to his pocket again nine minutes
later, showing Boateng his second yellow card for
catching Gimenez with his arm while
challenging for a header.
Simeone granted Griezmann some rest by sending
on Angel Correa in the 72nd minute and less than
60 seconds later he combined brilliantly with
Thomas, who swept home a fine finish within six
minutes of coming on.
Torres rounded off the scoring by turning home
Filipe Luis' low cross in stoppage-time for his first
goal since February, with Atletico sure to head to
the Bernabeu in high spirits as they look to make
the Champions League final for the third time in
four seasons.
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