Falcao leaves Atlético with honey on his lips
A penalty goal from ‘Tigre’ in the 92nd minute rewards a good Rayo and prevents the mattress’s fourth consecutive victory in the League
MADRID, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Atlético de Madrid could not achieve its fourth consecutive victory in LaLiga Santander and provisionally reach FC Barcelona in the table after drawing (1-1) this Tuesday at the Cívitas Metropolitano against a good Rayo Vallecano who took a point from the point of penalty in the 92nd minute.
A VAR notice to Iglesias Villanueva for a handball by José María Giménez ended in a maximum penalty in favor of the visitors who did not waste an idol of the mattress fans like Radamel Falcao, who equaled Álvaro Morata’s initial goal in a balanced match where the red-haired ones improved in the second 45 minutes.
Atlético tried to dominate from the opening whistle against a rival who once again opted for rotations with the entry of players like Mumin, Pozo or Valentín, in addition to ‘Tigre’, who barely had a chance against his old fans in the first act and was more dangerous in the second.
The ‘rojiblancos’ took the initiative, but they couldn’t find their way to Dimitrievski’s goal with ease and fluidity. Griezmann was the most active once again in the local attack, but he did not find much support in an eleven more rocky than talented that Diego Pablo Simeone had.
In fact, the first shot was from Isi Palazón, without problems for Grbic, substitute for the injured Jan Oblak, and who was the only real threat against the visitors against a defense that repeated its good performance last Saturday in the victory at San Mamés to control an unwise rival who missed Óscar Trejo.
Even so, Andoni Iraola’s team tried to be true to their style and paid dearly for that with an error when the ball came out. Griezmann stole and his pass to Morata was not wasted by the Madrid striker to make it 1-0 in the 20th minute. The advantage settled on the colchoneros, who lacked more clarity in the final meters, although they did not struggle to maintain their rent until the break except for a powerful shot from Balliu that was too focused.
Iraola rearmed his team in the changing rooms. Rayo Vallecano took a step forward and signed a good second 45 minutes where he was much more daring and had good options to have scratched something positive from the Metropolitan.
A header from Ciss was the first big visitor warning, which was replicated in another from Morata who also went close. The two benches moved and their respective changes varied the script of the clash because both Cunha, at Atlético, and above all Camello, at Rayo, were the great animators of a match that picked up its pace and broke up earlier than expected.
The Brazilian striker enjoyed two good chances against Dimitrievski, but the Macedonian goalkeeper responded well to both, while the mattress academy player came close to equalizing with a shot that licked the post and a great assist to Falcao who failed to connect well before Grbic.
The red-and-red team lived their best minutes against an Atlético who preferred to give up a few meters to take advantage of them on the counterattack, always with the threat of Griezmann and Cunha, who had one more. The visitors kept up their efforts and the VAR allowed Falcao to ‘steal’ two important points from his former team.
–RESULT: ATLÉTICO DE MADRID, 1 – RAYO VALLECANO, 1 (1-0, at halftime).
ATLETICO DE MADRID: Grbic; Molina, Savic, Giménez, Reinildo; De Paul (Saúl, min.76), Witsel (Cunha, min.61), Kondogbia, Lemar (Carrasco, min.40); Morata (Correa, min. 61) and Griezmann.
VALLEY RAY: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Catena, Mumin, Fran Garcia; Valentín (Camello, min.61), Ciss (Unai López, min.87), Pozo (Comesaña, min.46); Isi Palazón (Nteka, min.87), Falcao and Álvaro García (Pablo Muñoz, min.80).
1-0, minute 20. Morata.
1-1, minute 92. Falcao, from a penalty.
–REFEREE: Iglesias Villanueva (C.Gallego). He admonished Savic (min.47), Saúl (min.88) and Giménez (min.90), for Atlético.
–STADIUM: Cívitas Metropolitano. 46,803 spectators.
