Sports
Barcelona Edge Past Rayo Vallecano to Return to La Liga Summit
- Lewandowski’s penalty secures Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano.
- Barcelona move to the top of La Liga, ahead of Real Madrid and Atletico.
- Controversial VAR decisions spark protests from Rayo Vallecano.
Barcelona held on for a nervy 1-0 win against Rayo Vallecano, reclaiming the top spot in La Liga for the first time since December.
A first-half penalty from Robert Lewandowski was enough to give Barcelona all three points, allowing them to leapfrog Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, both of whom dropped points in 1-1 draws on Saturday.
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Lewandowski’s spot-kick, his 20th league goal of the season, was rolled in off the post after Rayo Vallecano were awarded a controversial penalty following a VAR review.
Pathe Ciss was penalised for pulling down Inigo Martinez in the box, though the Barcelona defender was nowhere near getting to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Augusto Batalla.
Rayo felt hard done by after a similar incident in the first half, when Ciss went to ground in the box but was denied a penalty.
The controversy deepened when Rayo thought they had equalised through Jorge de Frutos, who finished past Wojciech Szczesny. However, Randy Nteka, in an offside position, was deemed to have interfered with Martinez’s ability to challenge for the ball.
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Barcelona missed several chances to extend their lead in the second half and were fortunate not to concede when De Frutos headed over following a quick Rayo counter-attack.
With the win, Barcelona move to the top of the table with 51 points, ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference, and one point clear of Atletico Madrid, with 14 games remaining.
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