Madrid, Dec 3 (IANS) Goals by Raphinha, Olmo and Ferran help FC Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 to move four points clear at the top of La Liga.

Raphinha cancelled out the opener before halftime, and Dani Olmo put Barcelona ahead in the 65th minute. Ferran Torres added a late third to seal the points.

Barcelona finished with injury concerns after Olmo appeared to suffer a shoulder problem and Pedri also limped off.

Thiago Almada came close to equalizing for Atletico, narrowly missing the target after breaking through the Barcelona defense. Ferran Torres sealed Barca’s victory with a third goal at the end, following good work from Marcus Rashford, FC Barcelona reports.

Lamine and Raphinha made the first inroads out wide, while Lewandowski was doing well at holding up the ball and bringing others into play, culminating in a shot that went over the bar from Raphinha.

It was after another Barça move that Atletico Madrid grabbed the opening goal, Nahuel Molina with a first time long ball for Alex Baena to run on to and score past Joan Garcia, a goal that was initially ruled offside before VAR intervened.

Barca grew stronger through adversity and the equalising goal soon followed, Pedri was purring again, and his long ball to Raphinha saw the Brazilian keep his composure to round Oblak and make it 1-1.

The Catalans were now on the ascendancy and Balde went close, before Olmo was brought down in the area close to half-time. Lewandowski stepped up, but his penalty flew over the bar. The striker soon had chance to make amends in a one-on-one with Oblak, but the Slovenian keeper saved well (min 37). Half-time score, 1-1.

After the restart, the blaugranes kept probing and ultimately Lewandowski managed to squeeze the ball through to Olmo who got the second.

Hansi Flick then sent on reinforcements in Rashford and Ferran to replace both creator and scorer of the second goal, while Simeone also sent on substitutes, including Sorloth who did damage for his side last season.

The changes made the difference for the visitors, who took control of proceedings somewhat. However, a great combination between Rashford and Pedri was a sign that the blaugranes were still dangerous going forward and the team remained resolute at the back despite increasing pressure from the visitors.

The final say came from substitute Ferran Torres, who scored the third to close out the 3-1 victory,

Real Madrid will visit an injury-hit Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday night.

–IANS

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