Diego counts the Cost of partying with the punters
Diego Costa scored on his La Liga return for Atletico Madrid – then picked up a second yel low card for celebrating with the fans.
The former Chelsea striker bagged the second in a 2- 0 victory over Getafe after Angel Correa had opened the scoring.
He slotted home a low cross in 68 minutes then rushed off to celebrate in among the Atletico fans behind the goa.
But when the 29-year-old returned to the pitch he was shown a second yellow card by the referee.
Costa, who had been booked just minutes earlier for raising his arms in a cha l lenge wi th Djene Dakonam, looked bemused at the decision and stood still before eventually being forced to exit the pitch.
Boss Diego Simeone had no complaints about the second yellow but is glad he has Costa back to strike fear into opponents.
He said: “I focus on all the good things Diego did.
“The referee is following the rules , he cannot interpret the emotional side of things. The sending-off is f ine because he went to celebrate with the fans and you have to accept the rules.
“The rules are what they are but he has scored an important goal.
“Diego Costa gives us speed, attacking prowess and he transmits fear.”
Second-placed Atletico are six points behind leaders Barcelona, having played a game more, and two clear of third- placed Valencia who came from behind to defeat Girona 2-1.
Valencia, beaten in three of their previous four league matches, fell behind in the eighth minute when former player Portu headed in from JohanMojica’s delivery.
Los Che drew level just before the half-hour mark through an own goal by Jonas Rama lho, who diverted Goncalo Guedes’ cross past Bono.
And Valencia skipper Dani Parejo then struck what proved to be the winner from the spot three minutes into the second half after Jose Luis Gaya had been brought down in the box by Pablo Maffeo.
In Italy, Ciro Immobile bagged four goals in Lazio’s 5-2 rout of SPAL.
The forward took his tally to 20 in the league, scoring a hat-trick in the first half then adding another five minutes after the break.
Leaders Napoli needed 65 minutes to break down stubborn Verona before Kalidou Koulibaly headed in from a corner.
Jose Cal le jon then volleyed home Lorenzo Insigne’s cross to seal a battling 2- 0 win.
It made up for their cup defeat by Atalanta and boss Maurizio Sarri said: “The team feels more fired up for Serie A games and I don’t know why. It’s a mistake.
“I get angry when we don’t give our all in training, let alone in a match.”
Tor ino’s new coach Walter Mazzarri enjoyed a winning start with a 3-0 win over Bologna, who missed a penalty when 1- 0 down.
Lorenzo De Si lvestri headed Torino in front as Mazzarri took his place on the bench 48 hours after replacing the sacked Sinisa Mihajlovic.
There was a controversial start to the second half.
Bologna’s Simone Verdi went down in the area and was booked for diving but the referee changed his mind and awarded a penalty after consulting with the video assistant referee.
However, Erick Pulgar’s spot- kick was saved by Salvatore Sirigu and Torino went on to score further goals through M’Baye Niang and Iago Falque.
AC Milan scraped past Crotone 1- 0 as keeper Alex Corda z punched an attempted clearance at Leonardo Bonucci and the ball rebounded in.