Toni Lato left the game heartbroken, cursing his bad fortune.
The Valencia side, who faced the match against Atlético with the major challenge of replacing the injured Gayà, was fulfilling his mission until a Carrasco center, who found no finisher, hit his left leg.
The defender was in front of Jaume trying to shape himself to clear and he scored the goal in his goal.
It was minute 79 and the 0-1 remained immovable on the Mestalla scoreboard.
Atlético squeezed Valencia minute by minute and undid it with the entry of João Félix and Carrasco.
The eleven Valencian resisted until his batteries were consumed with the passage of minutes.
Javi Gracia's changes worsened the outlook, confirming that Mestalla's men have problems competing with guarantees of success against the most powerful and highest-quality structures in the competition, such as
Atleti
.
Cholo's block achieved its seventh victory in nine games and maintains the pulse with Real at the top of the table.
VAL
0
-
1
ATM
ValenciaJaume, Lato, Hugo Guillamón (Mangala, min. 56), Gabriel Paulista, Wass (Jason, min. 83), Gonçalo Guedes, Yunus Musah (Thierry Correia, min. 70), Carlos Soler, Uros Racic, Manu Vallejo (Rubén Sobrino, min. 70) and Maxi Gómez (Gameiro, min. 69) Atlético Oblak, Savic, Mario Hermoso, Giménez, Koke, Saúl (Carrasco, min. 59), Renan Augusto (João Félix, min. 45), Trippier, Marcos Llorente, Lemar (Kondogbia, min. 64) and Correa (Vitolo, min. 64)
Goals0-1 min.
78: Lato (pp).
Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea Yellow cards Uros Racic (min. 27), Saúl (min. 42), Hugo Guillamón (min. 56), Correa (min. 61), Marcos Llorente (min. 75), João Félix (min. 80) and Koke (min. 82)
Valencia dressed for the appointment with the few clothes they have available.
Javi Gracia replaced the injured Gayà with Toni Lato on the left side, played Guedes, and took Manu Vallejo off the bench.
The Portuguese and the Andalusian were awarded for their positive contribution in the tie at two of the previous day in Mendizorroza.
Full of children, with the youngest squad in LaLiga, Valencia faced a test of maturity against a firm contender for the title with Atlético.
In the end, the Valencian plan collapsed with an own goal.
Simeone painted a striking eleven on the Mestalla lawn, again with three centrals.
He joined the bustling Correa upstairs with the irregular Lemar, one of the best this time.
Without Luis Suárez and Diego Costa, Cholo did not start with Carrasco and João Félix.
He armored his team and adopted an apparently conservative stance against a fickle Valencia who still cannot show what his game plan is.
The first part of Valencia, on the other hand, was one of the most convincing of the season at a tactical level and in solidarity against a block that demands wear like the rojiblanco.
Gracia's group, well settled, moved well in front of Simeone's structure, with three defined centers and spaces that he knew how to exploit, mainly in the left profile, where Lato looked like a copy of Gayà.
The courageous captain of Valencia was replaced by another bullet in the left-handed lane.
Lato, who needs minutes to stabilize the projection he has lost in recent seasons, closed his side well against Trippier's internships and percussed through his acceleration lane.
The winger, who was responding to the challenge, could not prevent Atlético's goal in a play of bad luck that condemned his team.
The spotlight stopped on Jaume Doménech, Valencia's challenged goalkeeper, who cleared his half-time goal for the second time this season and kept his team in the game.
Almenara's cat, a feline, reached twice to his right to thwart Lemar.
At the edge of the half, the goalkeeper blocked Correa's shot at point-blank range.
These stops are fuel for the restless Valencia goalkeeper.
A new attempt by Lemar to score a goal would later stumble into Wass's body, with Jaume beaten.
In that play Guillamón was injured.
Muscle injuries rain down on Gracia's dressing room.
Mangala entered and with him on the field the locals lost the ball.
Simeone realized in the second half that if he wanted to knock down the resistance of Valencia, which he probably did not expect, he had to redesign his eleven.
Without altering the drawing, Cholo summoned João Félix and Carrasco, the good guys, and with them he put Kondogbia on the field, on his return to Mestalla, and Vitolo.
With the spare parts, Atlético submitted Valencia's midfield, weakened by Javi Gracia's changes, which made the game worse.
One of the differences between the two teams is the depth of the squad.
The one of Valencia is short of personnel and low quality;
that of Atleti is full of resources and balance.
The goal came in a carom action.
Carrasco headed Carlos Soler into the area, crossed and the ball, which Jaume did not reach, hit Toni Lato and entered the goal.
The side, poorly profiled, could not prevent the ball from hitting his left leg when he was turning around to precisely position himself and clear.
Atlético continues to launch and ratifies its candidacy.