Last Update: March 05, 2023, 22:55 IST
La Liga: Rafinha of Barcelona (AP)
Rafinha’s first-half header was enough to give Barcelona a narrow victory over struggling Valencia after being reduced to 10 men in the last half-hour of the match.
Barcelona moved 10 points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga on Sunday after beating Valencia 1-0 thanks to an early header from Rafinha.
The Brazilian winger put the Catalans ahead in the 16th minute. But after Ferran Torres missed his penalty and Ronald Araujo was sent off, the hosts were desperately fighting for the three points.
Barca came back in the last half-hour after Araujo was sent off in the 59th minute but survived to beat Rubén Baraja’s Valencia, who are 19th and two points from safety.
Barcelona’s 1-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first leg win over Real Madrid on Thursday followed two consecutive losses, and this narrow victory felt like an important step towards a first league title since 2019.
Madrid could reduce the gap to seven points at Real Betis later, but we were expecting a weakened Barcelona to stumble at the Camp Nou.
Without top scorer Robert Lewandowski, midfield maestros Pedri and Gavi and winger Ousmane Dembele, the Catalans were unable to play their best football, but did enough to win.
Coach Xavi Hernandez, watching from a box in the dugout with his brother and assistant Oscar, was also suspended.
Valencia resisted Barcelona’s early pressure, but were undone when Sergio Busquets lofted a pass into the area for Rafinha to meet with a clever run and a header over Giorgi Mamardashvili.
It was Rafinha’s fifth league goal of the season and his header against Osasuna saw Barcelona snatch a vital win ahead of the World Cup break.
Although the forward has not been consistent since his move from Leeds United last summer, his goals in recent weeks have helped Barca cope with Dembele’s absence.
holding on
Rafinha fired a free-kick into the wall and fired another effort wide after a good run from Alejandro Balde as Barcelona built on their strong start.
While at the center of the action, the Brazilian whipped in a cross for Ansu Fati, who went down the field and off target in time to test Mamardashvili.
Valencia could have equalized when Samuel Lino’s wild effort over the bar caught the Barcelona defense first.
Former Barcelona youth player Alix Moriba scored a try towards the end of the first half as Los Che finally began to gain a foothold in the game.
Early in the second half, Barcelona should have gone two ahead when Hugo Guillén was penalized for handball.
Torres grabbed the ball to take the penalty, although Fati wanted the same and the pair exchanged words, increasing the pressure on the Spaniard, who hit the post.
Fati hit the post moments before a mistake by Jules Conde left Barcelona with 10 men with an effort at the near post.
The French defender’s ill-advised header towards Marc-Andre ter Stegen sent Hugo Duro through on goal. Ronald Araújo drags the striker down and sees the red.
Valencia put the pressure on Barcelona without troubling ter Stegen, who kept his 18th La Liga clean sheet of the season.
The visitors could have been awarded a late penalty when Casey tangled with Fran Pérez, but the referee waved off his desperate – and not unfounded – appeal.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)