Barcelona: Radamel Falcao scored his 25th goal of the Spanish league season to give Atletico Madrid a hard-fought 1-0 win at Sevilla and keep his team in the hunt for a second-place finish on Sunday. Also, Real Sociedad extended their unbeaten run to 14 straight games by drawing 0-0 at Osasuna, while Espanyol beat nine-man Getafe 2-0 for their third straight away victory.
After 76 minutes featuring more hard fouls than scoring chances, Falcao finally broke through with a goal after the Colombia striker had battled again and again with Sevilla's defenders. Falcao stretched his left leg to redirect Raul Garcia's low cross into the net after substitute Adrian Lopez had unbalanced Sevilla's defense with a lobbed pass from the left to the right side of the area for Garcia to volley back across the six-yard box.
Falcao's 25 goals gives him one more than all of last season with six games to play. Only Barcelona's Lionel Messi with 43 and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo with 31 have scored more goals in Spain's topflight this campaign. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois again came up big for Atletico with a pair of crucial saves. Even so, midfielder Ivan Rakitic almost snatched Sevilla a point in stoppage time when his free kick rattled the crossbar.
"Courtois and Falcao are important players for us. Falcao got us our goal as he is accustomed to doing," Adrian said. "We knew it was always hard here at Sevilla, but we defended well and took advantage of our chances. We take away three points worth their weight in gold."
Atletico dealt Sevilla their first loss at Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in eight consecutive matches and hurt their hopes of making a late-season push to capture a Europa League spot for next season, leaving them in 11th place.
Atletico's win also reduced the gap with second-place Madrid to three points before the always hotly-contested Spanish capital derby next weekend. Coach Diego Simeone, however, will be missing forward Diego Costa for the Madrid match after he picked up a one-game suspension for accumulation of yellow cards.
"There was a lot of tension on the pitch, but that is football, afterward players from both sides spoke to each other normally," Simeone said. "My team worked extremely hard today. The important thing is always the team. I don't give too much weight to details like yellow cards."
Sociedad's draw in Pamplona left them in fourth place and in control of Spain's final Champions League berth, and set up a critical match next weekend when they host a surging Valencia side that are just two points adrift.
Earlier, Joan Verdu finished off a well-orchestrated passing combination by Espanyol culminating in Sergio Garcia's chested assist for the midfielder to score in the 37th. Getafe were decimated by Borja Fernandez's second yellow card in the 52nd and Federico Fernandez's red card in the 72nd for a low tackle on Garcia.
Fernandez's foul led to Christian Stuani netting Espanyol's second goal from the resulting free kick a minute later when he pushed in a short cross from Diego Colotto after Wakaso Mubarak found him in the area. Espanyol have risen from last place to 10th under replacement coach Javier Aguirre. The former Mexico coach has a contract until the end of the season and remained coy about his plans.
"We can't talk about my future until I sit down with the directors of the club," Aguirre said.
Getafe stayed in ninth place after their first loss at Alfonso Perez Coliseum in 11 games. Elsewhere, Fernando Llorente scored his second goal of the season to give 10-man Athletic Bilbao a 1-1 draw at Deportivo La Coruna. Deportivo saw their four-game winning run end as they crept two points clear of the relegation zone. Bilbao is in 14th.
Barcelona maintained their 13-point lead by edging out Levante 1-0 on Saturday, after Madrid beat Real Betis 3-1. Also, Valencia routed Malaga 5-1, and Granada drew 1-1 with Valladolid. Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano drew 1-1 on Friday. Last-place Celta Vigo host second-to-last Real Zaragoza on Monday.
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