Celta Vigo's Mexican defender Nestor Araujo (L) vies with Atletico Madrid's Croatian forward Nikola Kalinic during the Spanish league football match between RC Celta de Vigo and Club Atletico de Madrid at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo on September 1, 2018.
BARCELONA, Spain: Atletico Madrid lost its first match of the season after going 2-0 down at Celta Vigo with 10 men in the Spanish league on Saturday.
The defeat would have been worse if not for the video assistant referee waiving off a third goal that was initially awarded on the pitch.
Uruguay striker Maxi Gomez scored Celta's opener seconds after halftime and set up Iago Aspas for a second goal in the 52nd minute.
Defender Stefan Savic was sent off for the final 20 minutes when he received a second yellow card for dangerously lifting his studs near the face of Aspas while disputing the ball.
The loss for Diego Simeone's side came after it beat Real Madrid 4-2 in the UEFA Super Cup and opened the Spanish league with a win and draw.
Gomez's first goal came when Diego Godin slipped while preparing to receive a routine pass. Gomez raced past the off-balanced defender to take the ball and fire a right-footed shot under goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Aspas doubled the lead when he jumped to head Gomez's pass off the turf and in-between the post and the glove of a diving Oblak.
Gustavo Cabral appeared to have scored a third goal for the hosts but was ruled by the VAR to be off-side.
Celta remained unbeaten in three matches under new coach Antonio Mohamed.
Real Madrid seeks a third win in as many rounds of La Liga at home against Leganes later.
