Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to grab a late winner for Barcelona in what could prove a hugely signficant day in the Liga title race.
Just hours after Real Madrid lost 2-1 at Real Mallorca, Barca came from behind to beat 10-man Atletico Madrid and extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points.
It will also act as a psychological boost for Barca, who face Atleti again in the Champions League quarter-finals with the first leg on Wednesday night at Camp Nou.
Giuliano Simeone put Atleti ahead only for Marcus Rashford to equalise almost immediately in a frantic ending to the first half that culminated in a red card for the home side’s Nico Gonzalez.
Barca struggled to make much headway against the 10 men until Lewandowski was in the right place at the right time to divert the ball home after Juan Musso had made a fine save to deny Joao Cancelo with three minutes remaining.
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Rashford stars for Barcelona with brilliant display
Rashford was given the chance to lead the line with Ferran Torres and Lewandowski both on the bench and he started brightly, combining nicely with Cancelo to create a chance for Lamine Yamal that was saved by Musso.
The England international then tested Musso with a free-kick that was comfortably saved by the Atletico goalkeeper.
Having spent the opening 12 minutes on the back foot, Atleti sprung forward and ought to have opened the scoring. Antoine Griezmann, who will join Orlando City at the end of the season, nearly gave the home fans another memorable moment by skipping inside Pau Cubarsi and Ronald Araujo but then hurried his shot and it flew straight at Joan Garcia.
Fermin Lopez came close twice in three minutes after seizing on passes from Yamal. The first effort was saved by Musso while the Spain international prodded the second wide under pressure from Nahuel Molina.
Griezmann then shot wide when well placed before a brilliant move from Barca, that included Yamal, Dani Olmo and Lopez, saw teenage winger Yamal burst clear and clip a shot over the advancing Musso but it hit the post.
Atleti took the lead shortly afterwards. Clement Lenglet’s long ball over the top dissected the Barca defence and Simeone strode through unchallenged to fire past Garcia.
It took the visitors just two minutes to find an equaliser. Rashford played a one-two with Olmo and then fired a shot through the legs of Musso at his near post.
Koke, Lopez and Molina were all booked for their part in a melee before Gonzalez was sent-off before half-time after taking down Yamal as he threatened to burst clear. Referee Mateo Busquets Ferrer initially showed the Argentine a second yellow but it was upgraded to a straight red by the VAR.
Marc Bernal had replaced Araujo shortly after Atleti’s goal and he nearly completed the turnaround before the break by stabbing Rashford’s free-kick narrowly wide.
Barcelona almost squander advantage
It was advantage Barca at the break with 45 minutes to find a winner against the 10 men of Atletico but the visitors almost handed the initiative straight back to their hosts within 45 seconds of the restart. Full-back Gerard Martin caught Thiago Almada with a late challenge and was shown a red card only for the VAR to intervene and downgrade it to a yellow.
Having maintained the numerical superiority, Barca dominated possession but could not find a way past a typically well-organised Atleti backline.
The visitors didn’t really threaten a second goal until Yamal found space just outside the area after some sublime skill left four defenders in his wake but he dragged his shot wide.
Musso then saved well from substitute Torres before denying the striker again after 71 minutes with a brilliant reflex save following good work from Olmo.
Lewandowski replaced Rashford with 10 minutes to go and the veteran Pole had the final say, although it’s debatable how much he knew about it.
The unfortunate Musso made a great save to keep out Cancelo’s effort but the ball ricocheted onto Lewandowski’s chest and flew into the net.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
