Atletico Madrid came through the first Madrid derby of the season 2-1 after Dean Huijsen was penalised for a foul on Giuliano Simeone inside the area and then sent off as last man. Simeone went on to cross for Jonathan David to score on his Madrid derby debut, and Atletico took control after the break. The result lifted them above Real Madrid and into second in La Liga.
Simeone's role in the decisive stretch
Giuliano Simeone was the derby's central figure. He won the penalty, delivered the cross for the second goal and finished with one assist. His output this season now stands at 3 combined league goal contributions, with 1 goal and 2 assists across 5 La Liga appearances.
That is not a cameo profile. Simeone has already played 383 league minutes this season, which is why his influence in a match of this size carried some weight.
Huijsen's dismissal and Real Madrid's response
Huijsen lasted 52 minutes before the red card, and Atletico used the extra man to tilt the game their way. Real still pushed for an equaliser in stoppage time, and Antonio Rüdiger headed home from Bernardo Silva's free-kick, but there was no second reply.
The disciplinary moment is the one that changes the shape of the derby, even with the late pressure from Real Madrid. Mourinho's side were left incensed by the sequence, and the stoppage-time goal only gave them a brief route back into it.
Atletico have now won four of their last five league matches, a run that lines up with their move to second in La Liga. This one felt like a statement because it was built on the same things that have carried them through the opening stretch, and because it came against Real Madrid in the first derby of the season.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
