A solitary goal by in-form Antoine Griezmann saw Atletico overcome Espanyol to keep the pressure on league leaders Barcelona -- but they were rocked by a serious injury to midfielder Tiago.
France international Griezmann netted his third goal in two games with under three minutes on the clock at the Vicente Calderon, and was enough to beat the Catalans and ensure a third straight league win for Diego Simeone's side.
The Rojiblancos stay second in the Primera Division table thanks to the win, four points behind Barcelona and above local rivals Real Madrid, but the evening was tainted when Tiago was stretchered off in the first half.
The club wrote on Twitter afterwards: "MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. Tiago has a non-displaced fracture in the middle third of the right tibia."
PARTE MÉDICO. Tiago sufre una fractura no desplazada en el tercio medio de la tibia derecha. pic.twitter.com/cGOfxLl9t3
- Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) November 28, 2015
Simeone left Fernando Torres out of his starting lineup for the visit of Sergio Gonzalez's side, giving Luciano Vietto just a second league start since his move from Villarreal in the summer.
The Argentine's strike partner Griezmann went into the game in confident mood after grabbing both goals in the 2-0 win over Galatasaray at the Calderon on Wednesday, and needed just a couple of minutes to give his side the lead.
Youngster Oliver Torres tore into the box from the right and rolled the ball across to the 24-year-old, who sent it into the far corner with a flick of his left toe.
Despite their dream start, the hosts could not build on their lead and suffered a huge setback when Tiago keeled over in agony after attempting to win the ball from Marco Asensio. The Portuguese was taken to hospital immediately after coming off the pitch.
Griezmann and Vietto both spurned a chance to double Atletico's advantage early in the second half, with the Frenchman colliding with Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez as he shaped to shoot and the ball falling to Vietto, who somehow missed when faced with an open goal.
Although only trailing by a goal, Espanyol struggled to create openings at the other end and Atletico did most of the attacking. Oliver tried to catch Lopez out from the edge of the area but the goalkeeper was equal to his shot, while Diego Godin headed a free-kick against the post.
Fernando Torres also struck the woodwork in the final minutes after replacing namesake Oliver, while fellow substitute Thomas Partey was denied a wonderful first goal for Atletico's first team in injury time when Lopez tipped his long-range effort away.