December 13, (THEWILL) — Raphinha scored twice in the second half to secure Barcelona a 2-0 victory over Osasuna at Camp Nou.
The result extends Hansi Flick’s side’s advantage at the summit to seven points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid’s fixture against Alaves on Sunday.
Barcelona believed they had taken the lead midway through the opening period when Ferran Torres headed home from Marcus Rashford’s first-time delivery.
However, VAR intervention ruled the goal out after determining Raphinha had been in an offside position during the build-up.
Lamine Yamal and Rashford both threatened either side of the interval for the hosts.
Osasuna’s Vitor Munoz spurned a significant opportunity early in the second period, failing to trouble Joan Garcia despite being played through on goal.
The Brazilian forward opened the scoring after 70 minutes following a pass from Pedri.
Raphinha carried the ball towards the edge of the penalty area before driving his finish into the bottom-right corner.
Yamal nearly doubled the advantage with a curling attempt that Sergio Herrera turned away.
Barcelona sealed the points with four minutes remaining when Raphinha converted from Jules Kounde’s deflected cross.
The victory maintains the Blaugrana’s commanding position at the top of LaLiga going into the weekend’s remaining fixtures.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
