Atletico Madrid closed the gap to Barcelona at the top of La Liga to nine points and regained their four-point advantage over Real Madrid on Sunday evening with a 1-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna.
Kevin Gameiro netted the only goal of the contest from the penalty spot against the relegation-threatened visitors, who despite lacking in quality, showed they could have had enough to escape the drop had they asserted themselves in a similar vein each week.
The result keeps the title race alive, just, but maybe more importantly means that ahead of next weekend's Madrid derby, should Los Blancos reign supreme at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Atleti will still hold second place.