Atletico Madrid scraped a 1-0 win at home to Real Valladolid on Saturday in La Liga thanks to a late header from substitute Vitolo to move into third in the standings.

Vitolo cashed in from poor positioning from Valladolid’s debutant goalkeeper Jose Antonio Caro to head the ball just over the goalline. Although it was headed away by a defender, a VAR review ratified the linesman’s decision to award the goal.

The victory took Atletico on to 52 points after 30 games, level with fourth-placed Sevilla, but gave them a four-point cushion over fifth-placed Getafe to further boost their chances of a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.

Getafe’s bid to qualify for the Champions League for the first time continued to unravel as they could only draw 1-1 at home to struggling Eibar although they escaped a worse fate as a late goal for the visitors was ruled out by a VAR review.

Valladolid are 15th on 33 points, seven points above the relegation zone.

“Valladolid are a very hard-working and organised team and were very tight at the back and in the middle and it was very hard to find any gaps,” said match winner Vitolo.

“In the end we had to get the goal from a set play but we’ve earned three vital points.”

Playing for the first time without fans at the Wanda Metropolitano, Atletico lacked the fluidity they showed in their 5-0 thrashing at Osasuna last Wednesday and were fortunate not to go behind as Valladolid impressed in the first half.

Scorer’s tribute

The first Serie A goal in 103 days was marked by scorer Nicolas Nkoulou taking a knee as the Italian league resumed with tributes for the country’s healthcare workers and victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nkoulou, who is Black, took a knee in a show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and in honor of George Floyd after heading in Torino’s opener in the 15th minute. Torino went on to draw 1-1 with Parma in the first Serie A game since the league was shut down more than three months ago amid the Covid-19 pandemic.