Madrid, March 1: French forward Antoine Griezmann scored all four goals as Atletico Madrid thrashed Leganes 4-0 in La Liga to cut the gap on leaders Barcelona to four points.
Barcelona visit Las Palmas on Thursday before hosting Atletico on Sunday.
.@atletienglish draw to within 4 points of Barça (having played an extra game) ahead of their meeting on Sunday! 🔥😬#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/WlxdQhNMoV
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) February 28, 2018
Eibar beat Villareal 1-0 in the other match of the day.
Home wins for Atleti and Eibar wrap up today's #LaLiga action! #LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/1cVvWQvaAz
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) February 28, 2018
Griezmann bagged two goals in each half in astunning display to become the first Atletico player this century to score hat-tricks in successive league games.
Sunday vs Sevilla: ⚽⚽⚽
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) March 1, 2018
Wednesday vs Leganes: ⚽⚽⚽⚽
Next up for @AntoGriezmann... BARCELONA! pic.twitter.com/6tIx7SmQPG
He also became the first Atletico player to net four in a match since Radamel Falcao in 2012 and brought up his 100th goal for the club he joined in 2014.
"It's a great feeling, the team are on an upward curve," said coach Diego Simeone
"We're in good form, we need to focus on carrying on improving as a side. We've tried to be tighter than we were last time out.
"Leganes has a couple of chances, but we improved and were able to seal the win."
Leganes had started strongly and were unfortunate not to open the scoring.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak tipped Gerard Gumbau's thunderous effort on to the bar before Filipe Luis blocked Gabriel's follow-up on the line in a frantic openingquarter in which Griezmann struck the woodwork.
He made no mistake, however, as he ran on to Koke's sumptuous through ball to finish after 25 minutes and soon doubled his tally with a stunning free kick.
The hat-trick was completed with a towering header before Griezmann volleyed in a fourth to complete an eighth successive victory for Simeone's team in all competitions.
"We now need to go and play the best we can against an opponent who has not lost in the league yet this season," Simeone added ahead of the trip to Barcelona.
"We're doing well, but we need to be humble at
Barca given we're going to play the best side in the land."
(With Agency inputs)