Fc. Barcelona brushed aside Real Sociedad to maintain their lead at the top of Laliga Santander, after beating the Basque club 2-1 in Camp Nou.
The Blaugrana defenders, Clement Linglet and Jordi Alba took up goal scoring duties to ensure three points on the night for the catalan giants.
Linglet broke the deadlock at the stroke of half time when he powered in a header past Rulli in goal from Ousmanne Dembele’s corner kick.
Sociedad didn’t let the late first half goal deter them in the second half, as they grabbed an equalizer in the 62nd minute.
Juanmi, who was denied a goal by Ter Stegen in the first half, finally grabbed one to even scores in the match.
• Sociedad had taken a quick throw-in which found it’s way from Oyarzabal to Alberto Moreno, the midfielder then slid a perfect defense splitting pass to a running Juanmi and the Argentine managed to squeez the ball over Ter Stegen.
With the equalizer, it looked like a game penciled for stalemate but Jordi Alba had other plans.
Barcelona had a great exchange of passes before Messi found Alba at the right flank– the left back then cut in and sent a low curler past Rulli to put Barca back in front.
The immediate reply to Sociedad’s equalizer saw Barcelona see out the match for maximum points. Ernesto Valverde’s men are now two games away from clinching the Spanish Laliga title.
• Should second placed Atletico Madrid fail to beat Valencia in their next match, then the party might be coming earlier than expected in Catalonia for Barcelona.
• Barca’s next two fixtures involve a visit to Alaves, before they welcome relegation threatened Levante at the Camp Nou (where they’re expected to clinch the title).
LALIGA SANTANDER TABLE
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | G | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Athletic Bilbao | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 11 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 11 |
| 3 | Granada | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 10 |
| 4 | Real Sociedad | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 10 |
| 5 | Sevilla | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 10 |
| 6 | Atlético de Madrid | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 10 |
| 7 | Villarreal | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 8 |
| 8 | Barcelona | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 7 |
| 9 | Levante | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 7 |
| 10 | Osasuna | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 7 |
| 11 | Getafe | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 |
| 12 | Valencia | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 5 |
| 13 | Deportivo Alavés | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 5 |
| 14 | Real Betis | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 5 |
| 15 | Real Valladolid | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 5 |
| 16 | Celta de Vigo | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 5 |
| 17 | Mallorca | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 4 |
| 18 | Espanyol | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 4 |
| 19 | Eibar | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 2 |
| 20 | Leganes | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 1 |