Former Atletico striker scores from 92nd minute penalty for 1-1 stalemate
\nMADRID
\nFormer Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao earned Rayo Vallecano a 1-1 draw against his old side in La Liga with a 92nd minute penalty on Tuesday.
\nAlvaro Morata\u2019s first-half strike seemed poised to help Atletico strengthen their grip on third place and keep close to leaders Real Madrid and Barcelona, but Rayo snatched a deserved draw.
\nAfter the break the hosts had their backs to the wall at the Metropolitano and weren\u2019t able to finish their chances on the break. The pressure eventually told when Jose Gimenez handled in the box.
\n\u201cWe had good chances to score the second and kill the game off, but we didn\u2019t score,\u201d Atletico coach Diego Simeone told Movistar.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve dropped two important points.\u201d
\nThe Rojiblancos broke the deadlock in the 20th minute when Antoine Griezmann won the ball high up the pitch and crossed for his strike partner Morata to finish consummately. The France forward was impressive again and seems to be returning to his best level.
\nPathe Ciss headed wide from six yards early in the second half as Andoni Iraola\u2019s team battled to find the equaliser, and substitute Sergio Camello flashed a shot just past the post.
\nThe lively striker, on loan from Atletico, nearly set up Falcao to score but Ivo Grbic saved and Gimenez managed to hack the ball away.
\nGriezmann fired home at the other end but the goal was disallowed for a tight offside and Matheus Cunha had a shot saved from a tight angle as Atletico rediscovered some attacking impetus.
\nHowever, when Gimenez handled a Rayo header in stoppage time they surrendered the three points. Falcao, who played for Atletico between 2011-2013, slammed the penalty into the top corner.
\n\u201cIt leaves a bad taste in the mouth,\u201d grumbled Morata, after the referee checked the penalty incident on the pitchside VAR screen.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t understand anything. When things happen to us, they don\u2019t look at it and when we\u2019re defending in our box they look at everything.\u201d
\nElsewhere Ernesto Valverde\u2019s Athletic, now sixth, were unable to pull themselves back into the top four as they drew 2-2 at Getafe.
\nValencia captain Jose Gaya missed a late penalty amid a chaotic finale as Sevilla held the visitors to a 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Atletico striker scores from 92nd minute penalty for 1-1 stalemate MADRID Former Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao earned Rayo Vallecano a 1-1 draw against his old side in La Liga with a 92nd minute penalty on Tuesday. Alvaro Morata\u2019s first-half strike seemed poised to help Atletico strengthen their grip on third place and keep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-290445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n