Atletico Madrid strengthened their grip on third spot in LaLiga as they cruised to a 3-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano on Thursday.

With their title hopes all but over after a 1-0 loss at Las Palmas, Diego Simeone's side bounced back to move up to 66 points, six clear of fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao.

Alexander Sorloth opened the scoring just three minutes in, heading home Giuliano Simeone's cross at the far post.

The Norwegian then nearly doubled his tally five minutes later when one-on-one with Augusto Batalla, but the goalkeeper made himself big to push it wide.

Conor Gallagher then rose highest to nod in a pinpoint delivery from Rodrigo De Paul and double their lead on the stroke of half-time.

Vallecano attempted to mount a comeback after the break, with Isi Palazon getting above his defender to thump a header at goal, but a mixture of the crossbar and Jan Oblak kept it out of the goal.

But Julian Alvarez sealed the win in the 77th minute. Antoine Griezmann made an impact off the bench, sliding it through to the Argentinian to coolly slot beyond Batalla.

The defeat leaves Rayo 11th with 41 points, five away from European spots. 

Data Debrief: Atletico find magic derby touch

Atletico had failed to win their last three LaLiga derbies heading into this game (D1 L2), but they stopped that rot with a clinical performance at the Metropolitano.

They are also now unbeaten in their last 16 league games against Vallecano (W13 D3), a run that stretches back to February 2013.

It started with Sorloth; only Vinicius Junior has scored more goals against a single opponent (nine against Valencia) than the 29-year-old against Vallecano since Sorloth arrived in the league in 2021-22 (seven).

And Alvarez continued his fine debut season with Atletico, netting his 15th goal. Only four players (Radamel Falcao, Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan) scored more in their first campaign at the club.