Torres strike sees Atletico go second

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres came off the bench to fire his side to a 1-0 win over Alaves Saturday which took Diego Simeone's side up to second in La Liga above Valencia, who stumbled to a 2-1 defeat at Eibar. Crowd favourite Torres was brought on in the second half to give Atletico an extra attacking edge and the Spanish veteran had been on the pitch only a few moments when he slid in a low cross from Sime Vrsaljko to score in the 74th minute. It was the 33-year-old's first league goal of the season and it gave Atletico a fourth straight league win, taking them three points behind Liga leader Barcelona.

? Commentator "Fernando Torres - he hasn't scored a league goal for a long, long time."

12 seconds later, Torres slides Atletico ahead. El Niño ? #AtleticoAlaves pic.twitter.com/jfzmp3iOFH— BetVictor (@BetVictor) December 16, 2017

Valencia saw their unlikely title tilt dented by a much-improved Eibar side, who twice took the lead after the break and held on to win their fourth game in five and inflict a second consecutive away defeat on Marcelino's side. Atletico are second in the standing on 36 points, behind Barca, who host Deportivo la Coruna Sunday, while Valencia are third on 34. Real Madrid, who are fourth on 31, missed the weekend's domestic action due to playing in the Club World Cup final, where they beat Gremio 1-0. Japanese international Takashi Inui put Eibar ahead in the 49th minute in heavy rain with the help of some haphazard defending from the visitor, who twice failed to clear the danger inside the area and allowed the midfielder to take advantage.

FT at the @MetropolitanoAtletico Madrid 1-0 Deportivo Alaves. Simeone's side move to within 3 pts. of Barça who are in action tomorrow.#LaLiga pic.twitter.com/evu10JzIza

— AS English (@English_AS) December 16, 2017

Valencia were without top scorer Simone Zaza through suspension while winger Carlos Soler was injured, but Santi Mina levelled for Marcelino's side eight minutes after they had conceded with a simple near-post finish from close range. The visitor failed to build up any momentum with their equaliser, however, and Eibar came back at them even stronger. Midfielder Joan Jordan headed in the winning goal in the 87th minute to give Eibar a deserved win, their fourth in five games, and inflict a second consecutive away defeat on Valencia following their 1-0 reverse at Getafe two weeks ago, which was their first loss of the campaign.

Eibar beat Valencia! 2-1. Two defeats in three now, having been unbeaten until then.

— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) December 16, 2017

Eibar had more than twice as many shots as the visitor did but managed to hit the target only three times, and Valencia coach Marcelino felt his side had been hard done by.RESULTSAthletic 0 Sociedad 0Eibar 2 (Inui 49, Jordan 87) Valencia 1 (Mina 57)Atletico 1 (Torres 74) Alaves 0 SUNDAY'S MATCHESGirona v Getafe, Celta v Villarreal, Las Palmas v Espanyol and Barcelona v Deportivo