Real Madrid continued their impressive winning streak under new coach Juande Ramos, producing another workmanlike performance to see off Racing Santander at the Bernabeu.
Gonzalo Higuain netted the only goal of the game just after the break as Madrid made it eight competitive wins out of nine - and seven in succession - since Ramos replaced Bernd Schuster in the hotseat.
The victory also saw Madrid cut Barcelona's lead at the summit to nine points, although the pacesetters can extend that again tomorrow when they host Sporting Gijon.
Once again Madrid failed to produce the kind of goal-laden spectacle that has been commonplace at Barca games this season, but it was a solid display and the clean sheet means they have now let in just one goal in seven matches.
The champions started brightly enough but that early promise soon faded and much of the first half was played outside of the respective penalty areas.
The hosts' best spell in the opening period came around the half-hour mark when Racing goalkeeper Tono was called into action three times in as many minutes.
His first save was probably the best as he tipped over Arjen Robben's right-footed piledriver from the edge of the area, but his second was just as crucial as he leapt up to block Rafael van der Vaart's attempted lob after the Dutchman had broken through.
Van der Vaart then had another effort soon after but Tono was able to comfortably gather at his near post.
Aside from that and a few promising runs from Robben however, Madrid were finding it tough to break down a well-organized Racing backline and it was no surprise to see the first half end goalless.
The visitors, who occasionally looked threatening on the break, had one decent effort of their own in the first 45 minutes when Jonathan Pereira forced a finger-tip save out of Iker Casillas from 25 yards out.
Overall though, the opening period was easily forgettable, with Madrid captain Raul barely having a sniff of goal as he looked to become the Spanish giants' all-time leading goalscorer.
Things looked set to improve after the break as Madrid powered up through the gears. It took the home side just three minutes to break the deadlock following the re-start thanks to top scorer Higuain.
The young Argentinian raced onto Raul's headed flick-on, feigned to shoot before skipping inside the sliding Cesar Navas and coolly slotting his shot into the far corner.
That was Higuain's 13th league goal of the season and he almost netted number 14 six minutes later when he fired in a low shot that Tono somehow managed to divert over the bar with his foot.
Madrid were unable to continue that momentum though and Racing almost made them pay in the 74th minute when the diminutive Pereira managed to bundle the ball past Casillas, but Fabio Cannavaro and Pepe raced back to cover the danger at the expense of a corner.
By that stage Ramos had introduced new signing Julien Faubert for his debut, with Robben, who had been suffering from illness, the man to make way.
Faubert was unable to provide the cutting edge that Robben had though, and it was Racing who came closest to scoring late on when giant striker Nikola Zigic headed Toni Moral's cross just over the bar.
That proved to be the last chance Racing would have of stealing a late point, leaving Madrid to celebrate another battling win.
