Real Madrid beat city rival Atletico Madrid 2-0 to tighten the La Liga title race Saturday, dealing the leader its first loss in the competition in 10 months.

Casemiro opened the scoring for Zinedine Zidane's team in the 15th minute. A long strike by Dani Carvajal, that ricocheted off the post and the back of goalkeeper Jan Oblak before going in, sealed the victory midway through the second half.

Atletico entered the match at Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium with the chance to damage Real's title defense. Instead, Real was able to move to within three points of Atletico, climbing into third place with one of its best performances this campaign.

Atletico had not lost in 26 straight league matches, dating back to Feb. 1 when it was defeated 1-0 by Real.

Diego Simeone's side entered the derby as the favorite after winning seven straight rounds and only conceding two goals in the entire 10 league matches it had played this season.

But despite its irregular season with unexpected losses to smaller rivals, Real was up to the challenge against another high-profile opponent.

"We have been hurt by some of the things that have been said but they have made us stronger," Zidane was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"Criticism is part of football and you have to learn how to cope with it. But the most important thing is that we believe in what we are doing. And today we proved that Real Madrid knows how to play."

The Frenchman was in a euphoric mood and praised many of his players, with a special mention to midfield duo Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who he said were in the same form as when they led Real Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles.

But he emphasized that Real still had a lot of work to do to maintain consistency.

"I'm happy with everything we did in the game. We pressed them all over the pitch and didn't let Atletico into the game. It's been a great week, I'm so glad for the players because they believe in themselves," he added.

"We built on what we had done in the last two games and competed very well for the majority of the game. But there's nothing to celebrate because we haven't won anything yet."

Real dominates

Real disrupted Atletico's attack from the start.

With Kroos excelling with his long passes from midfield, Real established a fluid attack that dominated the first half.

Karim Benzema forced Oblak to push his powerful strike onto the bar in the 10th. But Oblak could do nothing to stop Casemiro from heading in Kroos' corner kick to the near post.

Seeing his team struggle, Simeone switched from his initial formation of 3-5-2 to his standard 4-4-2. He then tried overhauling his lineup at halftime, sending on forwards Thomas Lemar and Angel Correa and left back Renan Lodi.

Lemar came close to leveling in the 55th when Marcos Llorente's low cross reached him at the far post, only for him to fire the ball into the side netting.

Simeone provoked the outrage of the club's record signing Joao Felix when he took off the lively Portuguese on the hour mark and replaced him with Saul Niguez while leaving on fellow forward Luis Suarez who had offered very little.

But Carvajal put the result beyond doubt in the 63rd when he collected a clearance outside the area and unleashed a swerving strike that ended up in the net after the ball rattled the post and smacked into the back of the diving Oblak. The spectacular goal came in the right back's first appearance after missing four matches recovering from a muscle injury.

Atletico was unable to force a save from Thibaut Courtois until 10 minutes remaining when he blocked Niguez's header.

Defending his decision to substitute Felix, Simeone said he did what he "felt the game required."

"I wanted to have fresher legs in midfield and attack, the game was going Real's way and we wanted to compete better," he said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I understand when a player gets angry because they feel they could have done more, but you'll have to ask the player why he was angry.

"In the second half, we were closer to the team we have been recently. But you can always have a bad game, a coach can always make a mistake and a player can always get angry. It's part of football."