On a night when Antoine Griezmann showed off the World Cup trophy to fans at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, the French forward scored a valuable goal which handed Atletico Madrid their first LaLiga Santander victory of the season.
After a disappointing result against Valencia on the opening weekend, Diego Simeone's charges were desperate to put pressure back on Barcelona and Real Madrid in what is expected to be a three-way tussle for the title.
Much of the pre-match festivities were forgotten early on as the visiting Rayo side looked to cause what would have been the biggest shock of the season so far.
The hosts were made to panic on several occasions as the newly promoted team took 13 shots across the entirety of the 90 minutes, four more than the Madrid club managed.
It was an archetypal Simeone team display, especially with the visitors having more possession throughout, but it was not enough to truly cause Atletico problems.
If Los Rojiblancos are to achieve the success they crave on all fronts this term then you'd imagine their incredible defence will be pivotal.
Atletico did though create chances in the first half with Thomas Lemar going closest, forcing a smart diving save from Alberto Garcia.
There was a controversial moment at the end of the first half when VAR was used to decide whether or not Los Colchoneros were to be awarded a penalty after an off-the-ball collision inside the penalty area.
A penalty was not to be awarded and the home supporters were then forced to wait until just after the hour mark for Griezmann to spare their blushes.
Stefan Savic played a headed pass which fell to the Frenchman inside the penalty area, before he placed the ball into the net.
The UEFA Europa League holders lived dangerously in the time left, however they managed to see out the result, although they were given a monumental scare in injury time when Alex Moreno bore down on goal before forcing an exceptional save out of Jan Oblak.