‘They are a very difficult team just to keep up with’ says Simeone as Atletico continue to match Barca pace

Diego Costa scored twice and Atletico Madrid continued their surprising neck-and-beck chase with Barcelona for the La Liga title, beating Valencia 3-0 on Sunday.

Diego Costa scored another two goals for Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Sergio Perez / Reuters

Atletico Madrid joined Barcelona at the top of La Liga as a double from Diego Costa guided them to a 3-0 win over Valencia on Sunday.

After a disappointing first-half, Costa opened the scoring in style with a stunning individual effort 14 minutes after the restart.

Just four minutes later substitute Raul Garcia rattled home a loose ball inside the area to seal the three points.

Costa then saw a penalty saved by Diego Alves, but made no mistake when handed a second opportunity from the spot six minutes later to move level with Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga’s top scorer on 17.

Both Atletico and Barca, on 43 points from 16 games, now have a five-point lead over Real Madrid after they could only manage a 2-2 draw at Osasuna on Saturday.

“The first goal was key because that opened up the game and I was very happy with the second-half,” said Atletico boss Diego Simeone.

However, despite just goals scored separating Atletico and Barca nearly halfway through the season, Simeone continued to play down his side’s chances of fighting for the title.

“The numbers that Barcelona have put together over the past few years are extraordinary.

“They are an incredible team and even without (Lionel) Messi they continue to win games with ease. They are a very difficult team just to keep up with.

“We need to stay focused on what is realistic for us as that is what has got us to this point.”

Simeone made seven changes from the side that started in the 2-0 Champions League win over Porto in midweek as he resorted to his strongest available line-up.

However, the hosts never really got going until the second-half and went in front just before the hour mark as Costa ran half the length of the field before finishing low past Alves.

Garcia then came on to replace David Villa and with virtually his first involvement in the game he made it 2-0 with an accurate drive into the far corner from inside the area.

Costa’s direct running was causing the Valencia defence all sorts of problems and he had the chance to make it three when he was pulled down by Victor Ruiz inside the area 15 minutes from time.

But Alves dived to his right to turn away the resulting penalty – the third time Costa has missed from the spot already this season.

Costa wasn’t to be denied a second time, though, as after he had been felled by Antonio Barragan, he blasted high past the helpless Alves.

Earlier, Athletic Bilbao strengthened their position in fourth place with a 1-1 draw away to Sevilla.

Alberto Moreno fired the hosts in front after four minutes only for Markel Susaeta to level two minutes later.

Susaeta also saw a first-half penalty saved by Beto, but in the end Athletic were happy to settle for the point which moves them two clear of fifth-placed Villarreal.

Real Sociedad moved to within four points of their Basque neighbours Athletic as they hammered bottom of the table Real Betis 5-1 at Anoeta.

Imanol Agirretxe scored twice, whilst Antoine Griezmann, Ion Ansotegi and Xabi Prieto were also on target as Sociedad recorded their third straight league win.

And Almeria moved out of the relegation zone with a 0-0 draw at home to Espanyol.