Barcelona 1-0 Las Palmas: Raphinha's second-half header earns Blaugrana narrow win over 10-man visitors

Second-placed Barcelona extended their LaLiga unbeaten streak to nine games with a 1-0 home win over mid-table Las Palmas on Saturday, thanks to a second-half header from winger Raphinha after the visitors were reduced to ten men in the first half.

Barcelona, who face Paris St Germain in the Champions League quarterfinals next month, have now won seven of their last nine LaLiga games, bringing their total to 67 points from 30 games.

They are five points behind Real Madrid and five ahead of Girona, who face Athletic Bilbao and Real Betis respectively on Sunday.

"The game turned good for us after the sending off of the goalkeeper (Alvaro Valles) and we deserved more goals to win comfortably, but today we had a summary of what our season is all about," coach Xavi Hernandez told Movistar.

"We knew that Las Palmas defended with a very high defensive line, so I played with Lamine (Yamal) and Raphinha, who are good at creating space."

The Barcelona manager was not on the bench because he was serving the first of a two-game suspension after being sent off in their 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid before the international break.

Xavi's side have now kept five consecutive clean sheets in LaLiga, the most since between August and October 2022.

Barcelona forwards Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha were denied early goals due to offside in the build-up, but the Brazilian scored in the 59th minute, heading a superb cross from substitute Joao Felix into the top corner.

Las Palmas were reduced to ten men after 24 minutes when Valles was sent off for rushing out and bringing down Raphinha.

As a result, Munir, Las Palmas' only forward, was forced to leave the game against his former club in favour of keeper Aaron Escandell.

Barcelona dominated possession in the rain at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, scoring on one of their two attempts on goal.

Lewandowski could have scored in the 35th minute, but his header hit the crossbar.

Fermin Lopez then fired inches wide of the post, followed by Raphinha, who also missed the target.

Joao Felix, who set up Raphinha's goal three minutes after coming on, hit the crossbar from close range in the 68th minute.

The result extended Las Palmas' winless streak to six games, their longest this season, and they now sit 12th with 37 points.

SportsLigue