La Liga: Lamine Yamal Gives Barcelona Vital Win

(MENAFN- IANS) Madrid, March 8 (IANS) Lamine Yamal scored the only goal of the match midway through the second half to give FC Barcelona a 1-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao that keeps it four points clear at the top of La Liga.

Yamal took a pass from Pedri on the right side of the penalty area and curled an unstoppable shot in off the inside of the post.

The result was harsh on Athletic Bilbao, who gave one of its best displays of the season just three days after losing in the Copa del Rey semifinal to Real Sociedad.

The home side lost midfielder Unai Gomez with a bad knee injury shortly, but kept on battling and had Barcelona pinned back in the closing stage. Pedri’s entry at halftime, however, proved decisive.

Nico Gonzalez scored twice as Atletico Madrid beat Real Sociedad in a dress rehearsal for next month’s Copa del Rey final.

Both teams made several changes after their midweek matches, and Alexander Sorloth continued his excellent 2026 form by opening the scoring against his former club in the fifth minute.

Carlos Soler equalised in the ninth minute, and it remained 1-1 until Gonzalez put Atletico back ahead in the 67th minute, only for Real Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal to level just a minute later.

Gonzalez netted the decisive goal with nine minutes left to play, forcing the ball in after Alex Remiro’s save was not cleared.

Elsewhere, Levante suffered late heartbreak after Carlos Espi’s 50th-minute header looked set to give them a vital 1-0 home win over Girona.

Levante had to play the final half-hour with 10 men after Jon Ander Olasagasti was shown a straight red card in the 58th minute for a heavy challenge and held out until the 94th minute, when Joel Roca’s long-range shot took a deflection to beat the impressive Matt Ryan.

In another match, Osasuna scored two late goals to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Mallorca, who had led 2-0 at El Sadar on Martin Demichelis’ debut as coach.

Mallorca’s top scorer Vedat Muriqi put his side 2-0 up, first heading in after a calamitous error by Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera and then finishing off a counterattack.

Jan Virgili was sent off for a bad challenge, leaving Mallorca with 10 men for the final minutes, but parity in numbers was quickly restored when Osasuna’s Raul Garcia was also dismissed.

Osasuna then rescued a point through Kike Barja’s 89th-minute strike and a 94th-minute equalizer from leading scorer Ante Budimir, leaving Mallorca in the relegation zone.

On Friday night Real Madrid kept its title hopes alive with a 2-1 win away to Celta Vigo. Fede Valverde’s deflected shot in the last minute earned the victory in a game that had seemed destined for a draw after Borja Iglesias’ first-half goal for Celta cancelled out Aurelien Tchouameni’s 11th-minute opener.

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