MADRID — Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres came off the bench to fire his side to a 1-0 win at home to Alaves Saturday which took Diego Simeone’s side up to second in La Liga above Valencia, which stumbled to a 2-1 defeat at Eibar.

Crowd favorite Torres was brought on in the second half to give Atletico an extra attacking edge and the Spanish veteran had been on the pitch only a few moments when he slid in a low cross from Sime Vrsaljko to score in the 74th minute.

It was the 33-year-old’s first league goal of the season and it gave Atletico a fourth straight league win, taking them three points behind Liga leaders Barcelona.

Simeone’s side, who along with Barca is the only unbeaten team in the league, was boosted by the return of talismanic forward Antoine Griezmann but until Torres came on they had struggled to create openings against relegation-threatened Alaves.

Valencia saw its unlikely title tilt dented by a much-improved Eibar side, which twice took the lead after the break and held on to win its fourth game in five and inflict a second consecutive away defeat on Marcelino’s side.

Atletico is second in the standings on 36 points, behind Barca, while Valencia is third on 34. Real Madrid, fourth on 31, missed the weekend’s domestic action due to playing in the Club World Cup final.

Neymar, Mbappe score

The world’s two most expensive soccer stars both scored as Paris Saint-Germain restored its nine-point lead in the French league with a 4-1 win at Rennes Saturday.

Brazil forward Neymar scored twice and turned provider for Kylian Mbappe and striker Edinson Cavani, while Mbappe set up both of Neymar’s goals.

Rennes pulled a goal back early in the second half through striker Firmin Mubele, but then had influential midfielder Benjamin Andre sent off in the 63rd minute for a second yellow card following a late challenge on center back Presnel Kimpembe, who was also sent off late on.

Second-place Monaco won 4-0 at Saint-Etienne Friday night.

Despite having one of the smallest budgets in Ligue 1, Strasbourg is up to seventh place after beating Toulouse 2-1 at home.

Striker Wesley Said netted twice as Dijon climbed up to eighth place by beating 18th-place Lille 3-0.

Mid-table Caen and Guingamp drew 0-0. Troyes moved further away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 home win against Amiens.

Last-place Metz secured a rare success by winning 3-1 at Montpellier.

Napoli back on top

Inter Milan suffered an unexpected first league defeat of the season Saturday, going down 3-1 at home to midtable Udinese, and was knocked off the top of Serie A by Napoli after it won by the same score at Torino.

In the day’s other game, AS Roma missed a second-half penalty but still beat Cagliari 1-0 with a stoppage-time goal by Federico Fazio, awarded after a consultation with the video assistant referee (VAR).

VAR was also used at the San Siro to award a second-half penalty to Udinese which Rodrigo De Paul converted in what proved to be the turning point as Inter were finally beaten in their 17th game of the campaign.

The referee initially signaled a goal kick but changed his mind and gave handball against Davide Santon after consulting the VAR.

Inter’s defeat opened the door for Napoli to move back to the top of Serie A with 42 points from 17 games, two clear of Inter. Roma’s win took it level on 38 points with third-placed Juventus.

Napoli captain Marek Hamsik equaled Diego Maradona’s club record of 115 goals as his side raced to a 3-0 lead after half an hour, suggesting that their recent scoring troubles are behind them.

Udinese’s win over Inter was their third in four games under coach Massimo Oddo who replaced Luigi Delneri last month, lifting them clear of the danger zone and up to 11th. — Agencies