Thursday 21 April 2016 07:55, UK
Atletico Madrid overcame Athletic Bilbao 1-0 as Fernando Torres continued his recent resurgence with his fifth goal in as many matches.
Barcelona and Real Madrid also recorded victories on Wednesday, leaving Atletico level on points with Barca but second in the table due to their inferior head-to-head record, and one point clear of third-placed Real.
Torres was sent off against the league leaders in the Champions League last month but he has since netted in La Liga games against Espanyol, Granada and now Bilbao, the Spaniard's 38th-minute header proving the difference at the San Mames Stadium.
At the other end of the table, Sporting Gijon climbed out of the relegation zone with a surprise 2-1 win over Sevilla.
Isma Lopez scored an injury-time winner to give the home side a valuable three points, which moves them into 17th, above Granada, who play Levante on Thursday.
It was only Sporting's second victory in 13 league matches and leaves Sevilla seventh, five points off the top six.
Valencia's hopes of securing European football are all-but over but Los Che beat Eibar 4-0 to jump up to eighth, above Malaga, who drew 1-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano.
