Thomas Partey’s Atletico Madrid held at home by Valencia

Thomas Partey’s Atletico Madrid failed to gather maximum points in La Liga on Saturday as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Valencia at Wanda Metropolitano.

Los Rojiblancos headed into the international break with a goalless stalemate at Valladolid. There was an urgent need to close the gap on leaders Barcelona, who had won earlier in the day at Eibar.

The hosts took the lead through Diego Costa from the penalty spot, but before then Partey was given a yellow card for a harsh tackle on Maxi Gomez. It was the Ghanaian midfielder’s third booking in the Spanish top-flight this term.

Victory looked likely for Diego Simeone’s side until Dani Parejo equalised eight minutes from time.

Valencia’s Lee Kangin received a straight red card after a VAR review for a dangerous foul on Santiago Arias in the dying minutes of the match, but it did nothing to alter the 1-1 scoreline.

Partey was substituted in the 54th minute for Thomas Lemar and had 46 touches, 33 passes at an accuracy of 80.5%.

Atletico next face Bayer Leverkusen at home in Group D of the Champions League on Tuesday.