MADRID, Dec. 16 -- Fernando Torres scored his ifrst league goal of the season ad the only goal of the game as Atletico Madrid moved to second place in the Liga Santander on Saturday night following a 1-0 win at home to Deportivo Alaves.
Torres' goal came 15 minutes from time as Atletico made hard work of a side who will end the week in the relegation zone, but who have improved drastically under Abelardo Fernandez as coach.
The win lifted Atletico into second place in the league, three points behind Barcelona, who play on Sunday.
Atletico were able to leapfrog Valencia, who lost 2-1 away to Eibar in the Ipurua Stadium.
Eibar worked as a team and opened the scoring when pressure set up Takashi Inui for his first goal of the season, four minutes after halftime.
In a rain swept Ipurua Santi Mina's sixth goal of the campaign drew Valencia level eight minutes later, although there was more than a hint of offside in the buildup.
However, although Goncalo Guedes came on as a second half substitute for Valencia after injury it was Eibar who had the best chances in the closing minutes and Joan Jordan scored the winning goal three minutes from the end with a powerful header following Ivi Alejo's fine cross.
Eibar have won four of their last five games, while Valencia have lost their last two matches away from home.
The Basque derby in San Mames between Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Sociedad ended 0-0 and while Eduardo Berizzo returned to the Sevilla dugout just 17 days after a cancer operation he was unable to inspire his side to a win and it ended 0-0 against Levante on Friday night.