Atletico Madrid avoided losing even more ground to Real Madrid by winning away to Eibar 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by Saul Niguez and Antoine Griezmann.
The Basques shaded the first half and came closest to scoring when Adrian Gonzalez brought a fine save from Miguel Angel Moya.
But Atletico improved after the break and Saul scored with a header after a cross from Filipe Luis in the 54th minute, though Eibar felt he was in an offside position.
Griezmann sealed the victory from close range in the 74th-minute to end a long goal drought with his first strike in the league since early October.
The result, Atletico's second win in a row after earning only four points in five straight league matches, moved Diego Simeone's team to fourth place, but still nine points behind Madrid.
Winless in four league games, Eibar dropped to ninth place.