Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone felt his side paid the price for not being forceful enough as a 92nd-minute Radamel Falcao penalty earned Rayo Vallecano a late 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
Alvaro Morata s first-half strike looked to be enough to give Atletico their fourth straight LaLiga win, despite missing a number of chances to add a second goal.
They were left to rue not taking those opportunities, as the referee awarded a penalty after Jose Gimenez handled in the box from Randy Nteka s header, before Falcao fired home the penalty to deny his former side the win.
Simeone was frustrated over his side s inability to kill the game off, telling reporters: We had good goal situations to score the second and close out the match.
The second was not scored and we remain in a situation in which they can equalise.
7- Antoine Griezmann created seven goalscoring chances against Rayo Vallecano, the best tally in a single game in his entire LaLiga career and the best by an Atlético de Madrid player since Koke against Real Valladolid in September 2012 (10). Generator.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose)
In the second half we had a lot of counter-attacks to finish the game, we didn t convert the much-needed second goal and we lost two important points.
The two dropped points Simeone referenced would have put Atletico just three points behind leaders Real Madrid, and the 52-year-old feels his players must be more ruthless in future.
When asked what his team did wrong against Rayo, Simeone replied: Not being forceful.
If you come up against the goalkeeper several times, it has to be a goal.
You have to improve the forcefulness and train it and when that situation appears, there is the mettle to finish.
