Thiago Almada scored the only goal as Atletico Madrid edged out Osasuna 1-0 at Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

The substitute struck six minutes after coming on to lift Diego Simeone's side to fourth place in the LaLiga table.

Atletico went closest to scoring during the first half when Pablo Barrios squared for Antoine Griezmann, who was denied by a superb reflex save from Sergio Herrera.

Barrios, Marcos Llorente and Julian Alvarez all went close as the hosts continued to threaten in the second half.

However, the breakthrough finally arrived in the 69th minute, with Giuliano Simeone pulling the ball back for fellow substitute Almada to apply the finishing touch.

Jan Oblak came to Atletico's rescue later on, making a fine save to deny Ante Budimir as the hosts held out for all three points.

Data Debrief: Osasuna's sorry struggles on the road continue

Atletico have now won nine of their last 10 home meetings with Osasuna in LaLiga under Simeone.

Los Rojiblancos have also avoided defeat in each of their last eight league matches when scoring first.

Almada delivered the decisive blow from a Simeone cutback, and what was the Argentine's 12th assist in all competitions since the start of last season; more than any other Atletico player during that time.

Meanwhile, Osasuna have now lost each of their opening five away games in a LaLiga season for the first time since 2012-13.

They have also now failed to win any of their last seven LaLiga away games against Madrid clubs.