is name and his coach calling him the player they needed. “It was really special,” Conor Gallagher said after his first start at the Metropolitano, where 61,752 fans who are now his fans watched him guide the ball past Giorgi Mamardashvili to set Atlético on course for a 3-0 victory against Valencia. Thousands more watching on TV voted him La Liga’s man of the match. “He’s going to be good for us,” the goalkeeper Jan Oblak said, speaking for everyone. “He makes us better,” Diego Simeone said.
Gallagher completed a neat move five minutes before half-time, slipping into the area and collecting Rodrigo De Paul’s gorgeous ball through Cristhian Mosquera’s legs to deliver a smooth finish. In his third game since a €42m (£35.5m) move from Chelsea that was done, undone and then done again, he had his first goal. No Englishman had scored for Atlético since someone called Drinkwater, whose first name time forgot, hit three against Ferroviária in the semi-final of the Copa Federación Centro in 1923. Kieran Trippier is the only Englishman to play for them since, and he didn’t score. He did, though, win the league.
“This a very proud moment, a really special night for me and my family,” Gallagher said. “Hopefully I can take this, get confidence from it and build on it.”
The Metropolitano erupted, delighted. No one more so than the small girl in the front row of the north stand who watched wide-eyed as Antoine Griezmann, on his way to celebrate with Gallagher, collected the ball from the net and handed it to her. Teammates came to embrace the Englishman and supporters started chanting his name. “Everyone was just buzzing for me: it was a really, really special moment,” Gallagher said. “Thanks to my teammates and everyone at the club. Hopefully there are many more.
“The manager plays me to my strengths, I believe. I give a lot by running in behind and making space for others, creating space on the pitch for us to play. I was quite high up, trying to create chances and get in the box and I scored so I’m very happy,” Gallagher told ESPN. But it wasn’t just about the goal. As he put it: “I try to do a bit of everything” – and that is what has endeared him to everyone.
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