Atlético Madrid drew 1:1 in the sixth round of LaLiga at Rayo Vallecano. The home side took the lead at the end of the first half, but Conor Gallagher set the final score after returning from the dressing room. Thus, Los Franjirrojos remained without a win against their city rivals for the 15th game in a row.
The match at the Estadio de Vallecas was accompanied by a fantastic crowd from the opening whistle. Atleti came close to opening the scoring after a quarter of an hour when Julián Álvarez hit the crossbar. Subsequently, the game slightly turned to the home side. However, they could paradoxically be punished for their activity, because after the imprecise actions of Isi Palazón, Nahuel Molina got into the attack and forced Augusto Batalla to make a save.
But Los Franjirrojos continued to control the game, while also having their own shining moments. The guests could thank Axel Witsel and Reinild Mandava, who blocked dangerous attempts by their opponents. Moments later, Andrei Ratiu sent the ball into the danger area, where Palazón directed it into the net. Ray’s captain scored his first goal of the season. Diego Simeone had further cause for concern as César Azpilicueta had to withdraw through injury before half-time.
The Los Colchoneros manager responded to the first-half performance with an attacking lineup, fielding Antoine Griezmann and Ángel Correa before the second-half kick-off. He was rewarded five minutes from time as Alexander Sörloth brilliantly created space to tee up Gallagher for a shot into the bottom corner. However, Batalla subsequently locked his goal, eliminating, for example, Álvarez’s pumice stone.
In the 73rd minute, James Rodríguez came on, but he was only able to conjure up a weak attempt, which Jan Oblak dealt with routinely. On the other hand, at the very end, he finished off Correa from close range, but Batalla hid his ground attempt in his gloves. Atlético did not find a winner even in the seventh competitive duel of the season, but they could not be satisfied with the result. Rayo, on the other hand, reminded again that Madrid is not only about two teams, when they followed up the two draws against Real from the last two meetings with a point gain against Los Rojiblancos.
