Barcelona have defeated Deportivo Alaves by a lone goal to relaunch themselves into the La Liga title race, MySportDab reports.
The Catalan giants went into the game with a gaping distance of 8 points away from league leaders Real Madrid who lost their earlier fixture to Espanyol in Catalonia.
They started the game on a brilliant note dominating proceedings and looking set to cruise to victory but the visitors weren’t an easy nut to crack.
Reeling from constant pressure by the dominant hosts, Alaves settled for the low block and make little attempt on the attack.
Meanwhile, Barcelona continued to dominate proceedings, pressing hard in the opponents half and concentrating action in the box in search of an opener.
Despite a marathon of pressure, they could not break the deadlock as Alaves made well their attempts to defend and hold them to ransom.
At the break, it ended barren with both sides failing to find the back of the net.
In the second half, it was still looking bleak for Barcelona. They started on the front foot as expected but it was still hard for goal to come by.
17 minutes into the restart, Robert Lewandowski finally broke the deadlock for the Catalan giants.
Latching on a brilliant assist by his teammate, he beat the pressure and put the ball at the back of the net to break the tie.
Alaves began to emerge from their low block and contest for the ball but ended up leaving lapses for more goal-scoring chances for Barcelona.
Still holding a commanding sway over the game, what Barcelona lacked was a more clinical finish to seal the win with another goal.
They crossed the regulation time unable to find the back of the net again with the lone goal enough to secure them all three points at the blast of the final whistle.
The win has seen them close the gap on league leaders Real Madrid at the top to 4 points and 3 points behind Atletico Madrid in second place.
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