Lucas Torreira scored his first goal for Atletico Madrid on Saturday, netting their third off the bench in the final minutes of the match.

PAMPLONA, SPAIN: Lucas Torreira of Atletico de Madrid celebrates after scoring his teams 3rd goal during the La Liga Santander match between C.A. Osasuna and Atletico de Madrid at Estadio El Sadar on October 31, 2020. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
PAMPLONA, SPAIN: Lucas Torreira of Atletico de Madrid celebrates after scoring his team’s 3rd goal on October 31, 2020. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

After starting in the first two league games of his loan spell with Atletico, Lucas Torreira dropped to the bench against CA Osasuna on Saturday.

At first, Diego Simeone’s team did pretty well, taking a 2-0 lead. However, they let their opponents pull one back with 10 minutes left, setting up a nervy finish.

Simeone introduced Torreira in the final five to try and see the game out defensively, but the Arsenal loanee ended up making an impact at the other end. With two minutes left, he ran up the pitch and controlled the ball expertly before firing home for 3-1.

Torreira only had two involvements in his cameo appearance, completing one pass and scoring one goal. You can’t complain about an impact like that.

Ideally, the goal will get Torreira back in the starting lineup for the upcoming matches. The more regularly and impressively the Uruguayan plays, the better for Atletico and Arsenal. Atletico for the short-term benefits on the pitch, Arsenal for his market value.

According to recent quotes from Torreira’s agent, there’s no purchase clause in the loan deal. So the money Arsenal get for a sale next summer depends entirely on how well he plays this season.