Atletico Madrid moved to within four points of Malaga in fourth place with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Granada.
The visitors started brightly and had a decent penalty claim turned down when Ikechukwu Uche appeared to be bundled over by Miranda, but it was the Brazilian who put the hosts ahead at the other end when, in the 39th minute, he volleyed in Diego Godin's header.
The second period was played at a similarly pedestrian pace but after Granada had been reduced to 10 men when Henrique was dismissed in the 83rd minute, Radamel Falcao made sure of the three points as his shot squeezed under Julio Cesar after a wonderful run and cross from Juanfran.
Atletico had been in Europa League action on Thursday night and those exertions appeared to have had an effect as they struggled to create anything of note in the early stages.
Granada had the first real opportunity when Abel Gomez turned inside Miranda but he was denied by an excellent sliding challenge from Godin before he could get his shot off.
Soon after Miranda could have conceded a penalty as Uche went down in the box under the centre-back's challenge but referee Miguel Matueu Lahoz was unmoved.
Eventually Atleti started to take control though and after a cleverly worked free-kick saw Gabi's effort deflected just wide, from the resulting corner Godin's header back across goal was acrobatically volleyed home by Miranda.
Falcao then wasted a good chance to make it two as he received Adrian Lopez's pass in acres of room inside the area but lost his footing at an inopportune moment and was easily dispossessed.
The Colombian was denied again from a narrow angle, this time by a fine save from Cesar five minutes into the second half as Atletico sought to increase their lead.
However, after that initial threat the second period drifted into largely the same pattern as the first with neither side looking capable of creating any real danger.
Henrique was shown a straight red card with seven minutes remaining though for a foul on Koke and Atletico took full advantage of the extra man to net a second.
Juanfran ran from inside his own half past several desperate Granada challenges and squared for Falcao whose effort had just enough power to trickle over the line despite Cesar's best efforts.
And the former Porto man was unlucky not to have a second moments later as he struck the post with a rasping drive from the edge of the area, but it mattered little as Atletico returned to winning ways in the league for the first time since the end of January.
