10-man Barcelona extend the lead in La Liga with 1-0 over Valencia

Barcelona beat Valencia 1-0 despite missing a penalty and finishing with 10 men.

Facing the league leaders while occupying a place in the relegation zone, Valencia gave a good account of themselves in the early stages, with Samuel Lino getting into dangerous positions. However, Los Che were carved open by an exquisite pass from Sergio Busquets on the quarter-hour, which Raphinha reached ahead of Giorgi Mamardashvili to head in his fifth La Liga goal of the season.

Hugo Guillamón handled Jules Koundé’s strike to concede a penalty. Torres won the wrangle with Fati to take it, but hit an atrocious spot-kick that clipped the post on its way out. The hosts were then reduced to 10 men when Araújo pulled down Hugo Duro following a calamitous header from Koundé.

⏱️ 55′ Ferran Torres misses a penalty ❌
⏱️ 59′ Ronald Araujo is sent off ?

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Not a good few minutes for Barcelona ? pic.twitter.com/75lWzVCvrW

— LiveScore (@livescore) March 5, 2023

Even so, the Barcelona backline was solid until the end to get the 10th win in 12 home La Liga matches this term, earning a 10-point buffer atop the table for now. Meanwhile, Valencia are winless in eight away league matches and remain 19th as they face an uphill battle to avoid a second relegation in club history.