La Liga: Lamine Yamal Secures Vital Win for Barcelona

(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 away win against Athletic Bilbao, keeping them four points clear at the top of La Liga.

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

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

The home team lost midfielder Unai Gomez to a serious knee injury shortly after, but continued fighting and had Barcelona pinned back in the final stages. Pedri’s substitution at halftime proved to be decisive.

Nico Gonzalez scored twice as Atletico Madrid defeated 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 equalized in the ninth minute, and the score remained 1-1 until Gonzalez put Atletico ahead again in the 67th minute, only for Real Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal to level the score just a minute later.

Gonzalez scored the decisive goal with nine minutes remaining, 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 received 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 deflected past the impressive Matt Ryan.

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

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

Jan Virgili was sent off for a bad challenge, leaving Mallorca with 10 men for the final minutes, but Osasuna quickly equalized when Raul Garcia was also dismissed.

Osasuna then salvaged 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 their title hopes alive with a 2-1 away win against Celta Vigo. Fede Valverde’s deflected shot in the last minute secured the victory in a game that seemed destined for a draw after Borja Iglesias’ first-half goal for Celta canceled out Aurelien Tchouameni’s 11th-minute opener.