Athletic Club 0-1 Barcelona: Yamal curls home stunning strike as Barça stay four points clear | OneFootball

Barça remain four points clear of Real Madrid in a tantalising LaLiga title race after Lamine Yamal delivered the only goal against Athletic Club at San Mamés on Saturday.

An evenly-contested first half at la Catedral could have seen either side take the lead, with Athletic Club denied the opener just before the break after frontman Iñaki Williams was deemed to have strayed offside before slotting home.

But Barcelona were stronger after the break and finally made their chances count when Lamine Yamal picked out the top corner with a beautifully placed curling effort, delivering a crucial three points that maintain the blaugrana‘s cushion at the top of the LaLiga table.

As it happened

Saturday’s clash between the two defeated Copa del Rey semifinalists looked to present a nightmare start for Hansi Flick’s Barcelona, when João Cancelo rattled his own crossbar inside the opening 60 seconds after intercepting Álex Berenguer’s low cross from the left.

Ernesto Valverde’s men started brightly at la Catedral with Unai Gómez blazing an effort over the crossbar before Iñaki Williams forced a routine save from Joan Garcia – but Barça soon grew in confidence, and Ferran Torres saw a cutback attempt deflected wide of the post before Cancelo fired over the target from range from the resulting corner.

Gómez, despite a bright start, was to see his involvement cut short in Saturday’s mammoth clash after sustaining an ankle injury in a challenge with Marc Bernal.

There were chances for either side as the interval approached, with Cancelo stopped by Unai Simon after dancing into the box and Selton Sánchez halted by Joan Garcia at the other end.

Athletic Club looked to have opened the scoring in the 42nd minute when Iñaki Williams slotted home from close range, only to see his celebrations brought to an abrupt end, having strayed a few yards offside in the buildup.

But there was still time for Barça to register their best chance of the half before trundling down the tunnel for the break, with a fierce Ferran backheel rolling wide of the woodwork after a low corner was swung into the box.

The blaugrana emerged strongest after the interval and came close twice within as many minutes when Marcus Rashford saw his curled effort blocked by the Basque goalkeeper before teeing up Ferran once more, who glanced a header wide after a flick-on by Pau Cubarsí.

The young Catalan defender was lucky to remain on the pitch after he brought Iñaki Williams’ goalward charge to an abrupt end, though he was spared of a straight red card as it was not deemed to be a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Barcelona finally found their breakthrough in the 68th minute through Lamine Yamal who, despite having endured a quiet night by his standards, arrived in the box at the perfect time to latch onto Pedri’s pass, take two touches and pick out the far corner with a remarkable accuracy.

Something of a hit-and-hope approach did not pay off for Athletic Club in the closing stages as Dani Vivian blazed over the bar and Berenguer delivered a cross into an empty box, allowing Barcelona to see out their first one-nil win of the season and maintain the four-point gap to Real Madrid with 11 league games left to play.