Atletico Madrid have climbed to the top of the La Liga table with a 2-0 victory against Celta Vigo at Estadio Balaidos.

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The first chance of what was an evenly contested first half fell to Alex Lopez, who collected the ball on the edge of the area before firing just wide of the post.

The Madrid outfit created chances of their own, and if not for Yoel Rodriguez's save after 26 minutes, Koke's strike would have given the visiting side the lead.

A fine stop by Thibaut Courtois was needed to deny Celta from making the breakthrough on the brink of half time, with Charles's effort heading towards the bottom corner before being turned away.

David Villa fired Los Colchoneros ahead on 63 minutes after he latched onto a poor back-pass from Jonny and placed the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

The Spanish striker doubled his and Atletico's goal-tally just two minutes later. He collected a cross from substitute Jose Sosa and fired the ball into the back of the net to score his 13th goal of the campaign.

Both teams looked to add to the scoreline as the game wore on, but Atletico held out for the three points, which send them above Barcelona and city rivals Real Madrid, who play tomorrow afternoon.