Madrid: Felipe Luis's first half goal was enough to give Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at home against Real Sociedad in their Spanish football league match here.

Atletico wasted several chances on Tuesday night, but the result was never in doubt against a rival who has slipped to seventh place in the league table, reports Xinhua news agency.

The win cements Atletico in third place in the league table four days ahead of their derby away to Real Madrid.

Villarreal move back into fifth thanks to Adrian Lopez's 47th minute goal which gave them a 1-0 win away to struggling Betis, who rarely looked like getting anything from the game.

The day kicked off with Athletic Club Bilbao enjoying a comfortable 2-0 win at home against a decaffeinated Espanyol, which lifts them into sixth position.

Although the match was billed as a clash between two candidates for Europe, Athletic dominated the entire 90 minutes, opening the scoring with an Aritz Aduriz penalty in the 16th minute and doubling their lead with Aduriz's second of the night, eight minutes from halftime.