Raphinha hands 10-man Barcelona narrow win over Valencia

Barcelona continued their march towards the La Liga title as they clung on with 10 men to beat Valencia 1-0 and extend their lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table on Sunday.

Brazilian winger Raphinha put the Catalans in front in the 16th minute. But after Ferran Torres missed a penalty and Ronald Araujo was sent off, the hosts were left fighting for the three points.

Raphinha nodded a header over the goalkeeper after a brilliant long pass by midfielder Sergio Busquets who spotted the Brazilian winger ghosting behind the defence into the box in the 15th minute.

Barca could have extended their lead in the 55th minute when Torres fired a penalty wide of the goal. Five minutes after that, however, they lost defender Araujo who received a straight red card for a last-man foul on Hugo Duro.

Barca retreated in the final half hour but survived to beat Ruben Baraja's Valencia, who are 19th and two points from safety.

Barcelona's 1-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first-leg triumph over Real Madrid on Thursday followed two consecutive defeats, and Sunday's narrow win was a significant step towards a first league title since 2019.

Without top scorer Robert Lewandowski, midfield stars Pedri and Gavi and winger Ousmane Dembele, the Catalans were unable to play their best football, but did enough to secure victory.

Manager Xavi Hernandez was suspended, too, watching from a box, with his brother and assistant Oscar in the dugout.

Valencia resisted early Barcelona pressure but fell apart when Busquets lofted a pass into the area for Raphinha to meet with a fine run and a header over Giorgi Mamardashvili.

It was Raphinha's fifth league goal of the season and similar to his header against Osasuna which snatched Barcelona a vital win