Barcelona pull seven points clear at summit of LaLiga with battling win over 10-man Atletico

[p]Having seen title rivals [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a] fall to a shock defeat against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mallorca/4jDQxrbf/"]Mallorca[/a] earlier in the day, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barça[/a] knew a positive result in the capital would strengthen their grip on top spot.[/p][p]It was an end-to-end start at the Metropolitano, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/griezmann-antoine/OxCa1jdT/"]Antoine Griezmann[/a] shooting straight at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-joan/vuAlEqes/"]Joan García[/a] after a superb dummy to wrong-foot [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/araujo-ronald/M3sbJix9/"]Ronald Araujo[/a], while at the other end, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fermin/2c2ipETG/"]Fermin Lopez[/a] failed to convert from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lamine-yamal/lAt3vEub/"]Lamine Yamal[/a]’s inch-perfect trivela pass.[/p][p]Both sides continued to threaten as the first half progressed, and the visitors nearly took the lead when Yamal’s dinked effort clipped the outside of the post.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atlético[/a] duly capitalised on that reprieve, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simeone-giuliano/IJTJu41i/"]Giuliano Simeone[/a] controlled a long ball from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lenglet-clement/rH0mL7ws/"]Clement Lenglet[/a] before curling a clinical finish beyond García for his fourth LaLiga goal of the season. [/b][/p][p][b]The hosts’ joy was short-lived, however, with Hansi Flick’s men restoring parity just three minutes later through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rashford-marcus/COnT2Lh0/"]Marcus Rashford[/a], who combined neatly with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olmo-dani/2oVBOlPg/"]Dani Olmo[/a] to sweep a low finish past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/musso-juan/zB5O8dXn/"]Juan Musso[/a].[/b][/p][embed guid="01417809-bdc1-4eab-a607-5bcc81235198" url="https://x.com/LaLiga/status/2040517540611326082" social-type="twitter" /][p]Buoyed by the swift equaliser, Barça were handed another major boost on the stroke of half time when Nicolás González was dismissed for Atlético after a last-man challenge on Yamal. [/p][p]The visitors looked to up the ante at the start of the second period, but were perhaps fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men themselves, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martin-gerard/nBVu0v9a/"]Gerard Martin[/a]’s rash tackle on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/almada-thiago/CSKGShgi/"]Thiago Almada[/a] was downgraded from a red card to a yellow.[/p][p]Keen to claim a fourth successive H2H league win at the Metropolitano, Barça ramped up the pressure with time heading into the final half-hour, as Yamal fired an effort narrowly wide before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/torres-ferran/AVAVLaLt/"]Ferran Torres[/a]’ close-range strike was expertly parried away by Musso.[/p][p]The one-way traffic showed no signs of easing, as Flick introduced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lewandowski-robert/MVC8zHZD/"]Lewandowski[/a] from the bench in the hope of finding a late winner.[/p][p][b]The Pole duly delivered with three minutes remaining, finding himself in the right place at the right time to deflect a rebound over the line after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cancelo-joao/dAyeWYpm/"]Joao Cancelo[/a]’s initial effort was saved by Musso.[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="87f9adb9-c896-49ab-8b45-dd38ce22634f" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="9f640914-9dbd-4538-900a-e2a7553887aa" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p] That proved to be the decisive moment for the Blaugrana, who saw out the closing stages to extend their unbeaten streak across all competitions to nine matches (W8, D1) ahead of a blockbuster UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie against Diego Simeone’s men in midweek.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/atl-madrid-jaarqpLQ/barcelona-SKbpVP5K/?mid=G6kwDN9d"]Check out all the stats from the match here[/a][/b][/p]