Goals either side of half time from Saul and Arda Turan were enough for Atletico Madrid to beat Deportivo La Coruna and climb to second in La Liga.

The hosts were close to taking the lead inside the opening 10 minutes when Mario Mandzukic met a cross from Koke and headed against the post.

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Saul almost put them ahead in the 20th minute before eventually breaking the deadlock shortly before the break.

Once again Mandzukic met a cross from Koke, and this time Saul arrived to turn home at the back post.

The lead was doubled 10 minutes after half time when Turan's shot from the edge of the box found the net after a big deflection off Modibo Diakite.

Substitute Cristian Rodriguez almost added further gloss to the result, but his late effort whizzed just wide.

Atletico go second for the time being, but will be overtaken by Barcelona if they beat Valencia later tonight.

Depor, who have now gone six games without scoring against Atleti, are on a five-game winless run and remain in the bottom three.