Atletico ends winless run by beating Celta 1-0 in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Atletico Madrid broke a four-game winless streak across all competitions after eking out a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Striker Kevin Gameiro scored his first goal of the season in the 28th minute when he swept home a poor clearance of a corner kick by Celta's Sergi Gomez.

The much-needed victory came after back-to-back draws in La Liga along with a 2-1 loss to Chelsea and a 0-0 draw at Qarabag in Azerbaijan in the Champions League.

Atletico rose to third place, six points adrift of leader Barcelona and two points behind Valencia. Real Madrid can go back ahead of Atletico if it beats Eibar later.

"We are happy for the win because we knew it was a difficult moment for the team," Gameiro said. "It wasn't the best match of the season, but it was important to get the victory."

Celta played with a large section of its Balaidos Stadium closed due to safety concerns regarding the structure of the stands. Club president Carlos Mourino said that Celta will refund the cost of the tickets for the seats that had to be left empty.

VILLARREAL ROUT

Villarreal increased its winning streak in the league to three matches after beating Las Palmas 4-0 at home.

Cedric Bakambu, Mario Gaspar and Nicola Sansone all scored for fifth-place Villarreal, along with Ximo Navarro's own-goal.

The fifth straight loss left Las Palmas in the relegation zone.