MADRID (Reuters) -Julian Alvarez scored twice in eight minutes to complete his hat-trick and hand Atletico Madrid a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory in LaLiga over Rayo Vallecano at the Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday.
The Argentine striker's heroics salvaged what looked like another frustrating evening for Diego Simeone's struggling side, who had surrendered the lead before Alvarez's spectacular 88th-minute winner from the edge of the box found the top-right corner.
Atletico dominated early and took the lead through Alvarez's 15th-minute volley from a Marcos Llorente cross that found him ghosting in behind the defence at the far post.
However, despite dominating much of the first half, the hosts failed to capitalise on several chances, including a missed effort by Alvarez from an Antoine Griezmann cross.
Their wastefulness in front of goal came back to haunt them when Pep Chavarria thundered home a stunning 30-metre equaliser into the top-left corner in first-half stoppage time.
The visitors emerged with renewed energy after the interval, but it was Atletico who squandered the first major opportunity.
In the 58th minute, Nico Gonzalez missed a sitter, heading wide from close range after a pinpoint Llorente cross. Gonzalez sank to his knees, hands on his head in disbelief.
Rayo then stunned the home side, taking the lead in the 77th minute when Alvaro Garcia rounded Jan Oblak and tapped into an empty net on a quick counter.
Initially ruled offside, VAR overturned the decision, confirming Garcia was onside when Isi Palazon played the ball through to break the offside trap.
But Alvarez had the final say, first equalising when the ball came back off the goalkeeper before unleashing his match-winner that left the home crowd hollering.
The victory was only Atletico's second this season, leaving them eighth in LaLiga with nine points - nine behind leaders Real Madrid, whom they host in Saturday's Spanish capital derby.
"We needed to get three points really badly and build confidence by winning a game and it is great that we did it," Alvarez told Spanish TV station Movistar Plus.
"We were playing well before, but small details were holding us back and preventing us from getting better results. We have to keep working hard to continue this winning streak in the derby.
"We're going to play against Real at home in front of our fans who were just incredible today. It's going to be a great spectacle and we'll give everything to take all three points."
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)
