Barcelona took advantage of Real Madrid's 2-1 loss to Villarreal with a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday night in what was a hotly contested match. The win pulled the Blaugrana three points clear of defending champions Real Madrid, with winger Ousmane Dembele scoring the only goal of the game.
The match also saw a moment of madness between Barcelona forward Ferran Torres and Atletico Madrid centre-back Stefan Savic, with the two players embroiled in what looked like a wrestling match during the six-minute-long injury time that was awarded.
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The fight between the two players was described as a 'wrestling battle' between the two players, with Torres seemingly pulling on Savic's hair, while the Montenegro defender tried to choke his much younger counterpart. Both players were shown straight reds after the incident as the teams finished the remaining four minutes of injury time with 10 players each on the field.
Meanwhile, Dembele scored in the first half itself as Barcelona defended well to keep their opponents out of the game. With Barcelona going clear at the top of the points table, the Rojiblancos slipped to fifth place.
It was young Pedri who orchestrated the opening goal in the 22nd minute, bursting into the box and laying the ball off to Gavi, who then played it into Dembele's path and the winger found the bottom-left corner with a clinical right-foot finish.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak then prevented the Spanish youngster from adding a second, as the home side posed an increasing threat. Jose Gimenez headed just wide before Barca shot-stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen kept out Antoine Griezmann's drive with a brilliant one-handed save.
The former Barca man then had another chance early in the second half but failed to hit the target from eight yards out.
With his goal, Dembele is now only one of two players to have scored five+ goals and provided five+ assists in the ongoing La Liga season, after his former teammate Griezmann, also five and five.
(With Opta Inputs)
