Atletico Madrid's Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez (left) scores a goal during the Spanish League football match between Atletico Madrid and Getafe at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on Dec 30, 2020. (OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

MADRID - Luis Suarez's 20th-minute header on Wednesday means Atletico Madrid will go into 2021 with a two-point lead over Real Madrid with two games in hand at the top of La Liga.

Granada struggled to break down Valencia in the closing minutes before Jorge Molina's header won the game for the home side

Again, the Uruguayan showed his goalscoring talent to produce a smart finish from Yannick Carrasco's cross to give Atletico a 1-0 win at home to Getafe.

However, Atletico's defense once again showed its mean side to hang on for an ugly but important win.

Real Madrid dropped two points as their winning run came to an end away to Elche.

Luka Modric's header after 20 minutes put Madrid ahead, but Fidel leveled the game seven minutes into the second half after Dani Carvajal was penalized for a clear shirt pull in the Madrid area.

The game ended with Thibaut Courtois making a good save to deny Gonzalo Verdu what would have been an impressive winning goal for Elche.

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Real Madrid's Spanish defender Dani Carvajal (left) challenges Elche's Argentinian forward Lucas Boye during the Spanish League football match between Elche and Real Madrid at the Manuel Martinez Valero stadium in Elche on Dec 30, 2020. (JOSE JORDAN / AFP)

Granada beat Valencia 2-1 in a game which ended with just 19 players on the pitch after Valencia saw Jason sent off for two yellow cards in the 70th minute and Goncalo Guedes given a direct red card five minutes later for apparently the referee before Domingos Duarte got his marching orders a minute later.

Valencia had taken the lead thanks to Kevin Gameiro's 36th-minute goal, but Kenedy drew Granada a minute late in first-half injury time.

Granada struggled to break down Valencia in the closing minutes before Jorge Molina's header won the game for the home side.

Celta made it five wins from six games after Nolito and (of course) Iago Aspas put them on course for a 2-1 win over Huesca, who remain bottom of the table after another brave display brought no more reward than Jaime Seoane's late consolation goal.

On Tuesday, FC Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by Eibar, while Sevilla beat Villarreal 2-0.