Julian Alvarez scored his 10th league goal of the season to propel Atletico Madrid to a 1-0 win over hosts Athletic Club and move top of La Liga.
The former Manchester City striker sped on to meet a superb pass by Marcos Llorente before ccooly slotting in to break the deadlock in the 66th minute.
Athletic Club almost equalised through Benat Prados but he headed against the post and Inaki Williams crashed the rebound off the underside of the crossbar.
Atletico's two-point lead could be over , with second-placed Barcelona playing their game in hand against Real Sociedad on Sunday.
