Atletico Madrid picked up a crucial win away at Real Sociedad, with three goals in the closing stages settling a tight contest that had been goalless for long periods.
Speaking after the match, Diego Simeone praised his substitutes for changing the course of the game, drawing a contrast with recent defeats where his side had failed to see out matches.
"The game lasts ninety minutes, it happened to us in Liverpool and Bilbao and we lost 3-0 in Bilbao and you're left with the feeling that you don't know what happened," Simeone said. "The game is long, there are different phases. Real Sociedad worked very well on the combination play of Baena and Kang.
"In the first half they had two dangerous plays and we had two, but without either side having anything that suggested they'd win. We weren't comfortable. In the second half, the same pattern. The substitutions gave us more strength, with Jonathan and Cardoso coming on, Koke gave us calm.
"Arnau gave us more firepower in attack. The penalty favoured us, it let us go ahead. The 0-2 was a great goal. Giuliano's goal, on the run in the 92nd minute with three opponents around him, is for the few."
Simeone said a clean sheet was crucial to securing the result, despite acknowledging the fine margins involved.
"The defensive side is hugely important. Every team looks for that security, but sometimes very good players find a way to hurt you. Today we had the luck we didn't have in those five minutes in Bilbao," he said. "Overall, we made the most of the moments in the game that favoured us, suffering in the first half and going from less to more in the second."
Asked about his back three of Cuti Romero, Pubill and Hancko, Simeone said time would tell on the partnership's development.
"The club made a great effort to bring Cuti in. Pubill earned his place through his work."
Real Sociedad boss Pellegrino Matarazzo, meanwhile, was left frustrated by the penalty decision that turned the match, insisting the ball had struck Job Ochieng's thigh before his arm.
"For many moments of the game we had control, without conceding many clear chances and looking very solid, until the penalty situation arrived, and the two goals after that were very easy for them, we conceded a lot," Matarazzo said. "For me, clearly, it wasn't the correct decision by the referee, the ball hits his thigh first, Ochieng is pulling his arm back and the angle isn't right for it to be a penalty."
The American-raised coach said the decision was part of a pattern of contentious calls against his side in recent weeks, adding: "We hate losing, and I think the players and the fans deserved more today."