La Liga: Barca scrape home in Leganes to move seven points clear in La Liga

Madrid (Spain), April 13 (IANS) FC Barcelona was made to dig deep for a 1-0 win away to struggling Leganes that opens a seven-point lead over archrivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga standings. It took an own goal to give Barca all three points against a side that won in Barcelona earlier this season.

The first half was very open with Leganes not intimidated by Barcelona and going close to goal through Dani Raba on a couple of occasions.

Barca went ahead early in the second half as Gerard Martin, who came on in the first half for the injured Alejandro Balde, won the ball in midfield, and fed Raphinha. The Brazilian looked to cross to Robert Lewandowski, causing Leganes defender Jorge Saenz to slide the ball into his own net, reports Xinhua.

Elsewhere, Cyle Larin and Sergi Darder scored a goal in each half as Mallorca dented Real Sociedad's hopes of qualifying for Europe next season with a 2-0 win in San Sebastian.

Larin opened the scoring after Ander Barrenetxea gave the ball away after 20 minutes and Darder made it 2-0 with a powerful shot at the start of the second half.

Roberto Fernandez scored twice as Espanyol claimed a 2-0 away win to considerably ease the club's relegation fears. Las Palmas ended a run of 12 matches without a win with a 3-1 triumph away to Getafe to give a huge boost to the club's survival hopes.

Meanwhile, archrivals Real Madrid will be hoping to overcome Alaves on Sunday and cut down the gap back to four points behind rivals FC Barcelona in La Liga and were handed a shocking 0-3 loss against Arsenal in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the European competition.

With Real Madrid on the hinges of both their La Liga and UEFA Champions League charge, head coach Carlo Ancelotti wants his side to get back their ‘good feeling’ against Alaves on Sunday.

Despite the three-goal mountain that awaits Ancelotti’s side at the Santiago Bernabeu, if any club has shown potential to pull off such a miracle, it is Real Madrid. The record 15-time winners of the tournament have built their success by pulling off miraculous comebacks over the past decade.

--IANS

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