Barcelona 1-0 Valencia: Raphinha heads 10-man Liga leaders past relegation-haunted visitors

Barcelona held on with 10 men for the last half hour as Raphinha's goal gave them a 1-0 victory over second-bottom Valencia. The former Leeds man made a diagonal run from the right flank to meet Sergio Busquets' perfect clipped ball over the defence with a header to put the hosts ahead on the 15-minute mark.

Ad Sloppy defending from Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Andreas Christensen gave opportunities to equalise for Samuel Lino and Ilaix Moriba before the break but both spurned the chances. Copa del ReyMilitao own goal gives Barcelona the advantage in fiery Copa del Rey semi-final02/03/2023 AT 19:31 Eight minutes into the second half the game should have been put beyond doubt but, after Jules Kounde's effort was blocked by Hugo Guillamon's arm, Ferran Torres' spot kick clipped the outside of Giorgi Mamardashvili's right-hand post.

Despite having a lot of pressure in the closing stages, Valencia did not come as close to equalising with the man advantage, with the closest the game coming to a second goal arriving when Ansu Fati struck the inside of the post for Barcelona. The win extends Barcelona's lead to 10 points ahead of Real Madrid's match later on Sunday evening.

Valencia remain second bottom, two points adrift of safety. La Liga table La Liga fixtures/results La Liga top scorers More to follow.