Atletico Madrid beat 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 in feisty La Liga derby

The football game hinged on Dean Huijsen’s red card early in the second half for pulling down Giuliano Simeone in the box.Atletico Madrid edged 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 in a La Liga derby clash to leave Jose Mourinho’s side trailing leaders Barcelona by six points.Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half for Los Blancos on Sunday before Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David’s goals earned Diego Simeone’s Atletico victory, with Antonio Rudiger pulling one back late on.Atletico rose to second, five points behind Barca and one ahead of Real Madrid, who chalked up a second defeat of the campaign.The game hinged on Huijsen’s red card early in the second half for pulling down Giuliano Simeone in the box, which led to a penalty, tucked away by Grimaldo to set Atletico on their way.Mourinho started with Aurelien Tchouameni in midfield over Bernardo Silva, opting for defensive clout over creativity.There was more tension than footballing quality in the first half, with neither side capable of creating any clear chances.The main talking point was an incident between Jude Bellingham and Atletico defender Cristian Romero.The England international threw himself into a tackle, and Romero trod on his leg, with Bellingham booked initially. After a VAR review, however, the referee removed the card and issued it to the Atletico man.Madrid were also unhappy with a heavy tackle by Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde that went unpunished just before half-time.It was a scrappy battle, intense but lacking excitement compared to the star power on the pitch, especially in Madrid’s front line, with Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Bellingham kept quiet.The game burst into life early in the second half when Huijsen pulled back Giuliano Simeone’s arm as the forward ran through on goal and Atletico were awarded a penalty.