22 January 2007, by Sean Gillen

Brilliant Ze Castro hands Atletico victory

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Osasuna

Match winner Ze Castro says he is happier with the three points than his goal, as Atletico Madrid beat Osasuna in a remarkable match that saw the visitors reduced to seven men by the end of play.

The Portuguese defender capped a magnificent personal performance with a late winner to settle Atletico’s nerves after a hugely frustrating evening at the Vicente Calderon, which also saw Fernando Torres miss a penalty.

“I scored the winning goal, but that doesn’t matter to me,” said the 23-year-old defender, who has been earning rave reviews in Spain for his performances in recent weeks.

“The important thing is that the team won the match, not who scored the goal. I’m really happy about the three points.”

It was a bad tempered encounter from the first minute, with the first half littered with disputes between various sets of players, as tension from the recent Cope Del Rey tie between the two was apparent.

Atletico had become increasingly dominant in the second half before a breakthrough appeared to be on the way on 73 minutes when Carlos Cuellar brought Torres down for a penalty. The defender was dismissed, but Torres put his penalty wide as the home fans began grow frustrated.

Sweet Castro strike

However, former Academica defender Ze Castro snatched the points with seven minutes left on the clock. Osasuna managed to head clear an Atletico corner, but the ball fell to Ze Castro just inside the penalty area and the defender connected with a sweet right-footed strike to beat Ricardo and find the bottom corner.

The Portuguese was then the victim of en elbow from Soldado that saw the forward immediately sent off, before former Manchester United goalkeeper Ricardo was issued a second yellow and Raul Garcia followed for a poor challenge on Seitaridis.

“We knew that it was going to be a hard fought match, just as it ended up being. We started off badly, but with the passing of time, we got better and better,” said Ze Castro.

The result saw Los Rojiblancos temporarily edge ahead of Real Madrid in La Liga, although Atletico again slipped down to fourth following their city rival’s win over Mallorca on Sunday evening.

“We’ve earned 35 points, which is a great figure,” said the Portuguese. “We hope to match or better that in the second half. The team’s position doesn’t surprise me, as we’ve done well enough to be located in the top part of the standings.”

Atletico de Madrid:
Pichu; Seitaridis, Perea, Zé Castro, Antonio Lopez; Luccin, Maniche (Mista 85’), Galletti (Gabi 46’), Jurado (Costinha 88’); ‘Kun’ Agüero and Fernando Torres
Yellow Cards: Jurado (21), Torres (21), Maniche (25)

Osasuna:
Ricardo; Izquierdo, Cuellar, Miguel Flaño, Corrales; Nekounam, Juanfran (Valdo 63’), Héctor Font (Cruchaga 82’), Raúl Garcia, David López; and Webó (Soldado 63’)
Yellow Cards: Izquierdo (21), Garcia (21), Corrales (56), Ricardo (60)
Red Cards: Cueller (79), Soldado (87), Ricardo (90), Garcia (97)

Goals:
[1-0] Ze Castro, 83