La Liga: Dembele's Strike Propels Barca Narrowly Past Atletico Into Three-Point Lead

French winger Ousmane Dembele scored a one-time strike which gave Barcelona a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid to take Xavi Hernandez's side 3-piont clear at the top of La Liga standings.

Barca who were without their talisman Robert Lewandowski were in the front seat in the early stages of the match.

Atletico gave several balls away in a dangerous position but Barca could not convert the chances including a one-on-one situation for Pedri who went for the lob but blocked by Rojiblancos' defender.

A quick movement by Pedri opened up Atletico and Gavi with a bold move muscled Reinildo to the ball and dropped it off for Dembele who struck it into the bottom corner to beat Jan Oblak.

The game stood at 1-0 till the end of the match with substitute Ferran Torres and Savic sent off by the referee for a violent tussle.

The victory means Barca have regained a 3 points lead over Real Madrid who slipped to a 2-1 loss to Villarreal.

+3 and +3! pic.twitter.com/C7dpUTHDZ1

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 8, 2023