Atletico Madrid beat Real Betis 2-0 at home Saturday in La Liga thanks to goals from Marcos Llorente and Luis Suarez after coach Diego Simeone sprung a double change at halftime.
Llorente put Atletico in front at the start of the second half, tearing into the box from the left wing and tucking the ball inside the near post from a tight angle.
Betis had played well in the first half and dominated the ball.
However, Atletico took control of the game after Simeone hauled off Lucas Torreira and Thomas Lemar for Yannick Carrasco and Hector Herrera for the second period, instantly giving the team more pace and purpose in midfield.
The visitor were reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Martin Montoya was sent off for hauling down Carrasco.
The referee initially gave the defender a booking but changed it to a straight red card after a Video Assistant Referee review.
Suarez then struck in stoppage time after combining well with left back Renan Lodi to clinch a therapeutic victory for Atletico after Wednesday’s 4-0 thrashing by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
The win took Atletico into second in the standing on 11 points after five games, two behind Real Madrid who beat Barcelona 3-1 earlier Saturday in the “Clasico”.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis, meanwhile, have lost four of their last five league matches and are 10th in the table on nine points.
Elsewhere, Sevilla succumbed to a second consecutive league defeat as they went down 1-0 at home to Eibar.
Julen Lopetegui’s side have now failed to score in their last three matches in all competition and looked stale and tired after drawing 0-0 away to Chelsea in the Champions League Tuesday.