Fernando Torres scores winner as Atletico Madrid keep pace in title race

Fernando Torres again proved his worth to Atletico Madrid by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to keep the pressure on Primera Division leaders Barcelona.

Torres headed in Antoine Griezmann's looping cross in the 38th minute to score for the fifth game in a row and Atletico withstood pressure from the hosts in the second half to claim a fourth consecutive league win.

However, the evening was tarnished for Diego Simeone's side as influential centre-back Diego Godin was forced off in the ninth minute with a suspected hamstring injury, and could miss next week's Champions League semi-final first leg with Bayern Munich.

Atletico stay joint top with Barcelona on 79 points but are behind Luis Enrique's side due to their inferior head-to-head record.

Both sides were missing key players, Atletico were without captain Gabi through suspension while Athletic were missing injured top scorer Aritz Aduriz, although they were boosted by the return of young forward Inaki Williams.

Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz risked getting himself sent off early on when he appeared to catch the ball outside the area, but the referee ruled that he was inside.

There were few openings for either side in the first half but Atletico took the lead seven minutes before the break when Torres rose to glance Griezmann's cross into the net.

Midfielder Thomas Partey missed a glorious chance to double Atletico's lead a few moments later but could only hit the post after Iraizoz went to ground.

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak made two saves in the second half to keep out efforts from Benat and former Atleti forward Raul Garcia, but the visitors could have scored again before the end, Iraizoz reaching up to repel a powerful strike from Yannick Carrasco.