La Liga Roundup: Barcelona beats Bilbao amid more refereeing controversy
MADRID — Still mired in controversy over its funds to the corporate of a former refereeing committee official, Barcelona restored its lead over Real Madrid to 9 factors within the Spanish league on Sunday after a late VAR resolution went its method.
Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 after video assessment disallowed an 87th-minute purpose by Bilbao ahead Iñaki Williams for a handball within the buildup. VAR additionally was used to verify Barcelona’s successful purpose by Raphinha after it was initially disallowed for offside.
“I thought they were looking at offsides, but then I saw it on the video board, and I think it was a handball,” Barcelona coach Xavi mentioned.
Williams laughed on the resolution on Twitter after the sport.
“We are upset,” Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde mentioned. “Nobody on the field had seen anything, not even the referee or the fourth official or the other assistants.”
The assessment of Williams’ purpose took almost three minutes. When the choice was introduced, it drew loud jeers from the house followers at San Mamés Stadium.
Madrid had moved to 6 factors off the lead with a 3-1 win at Espanyol at dwelling on Saturday. Barcelona and Madrid play the ultimate league “clasico” subsequent week at Camp Nou stadium.
The controversy got here hours after Madrid had introduced it could aspect in opposition to Barcelona within the authorized proceedings that the rival is going through over its funds of hundreds of thousands of euros over a number of years to an organization that belonged to the previous vp of Spain’s soccer refereeing committee.
Prosecutors on Friday formally accused Barcelona of alleged corruption in sports activities, fraudulent administration and falsification of mercantile documentation. An investigating decide will determine whether or not the accusations ought to result in fees. The Catalan membership has denied wrongdoing.
Xavi mentioned the crew has not been speaking about what could occur due to the authorized proceedings.
“We are focused on playing soccer,” he mentioned. “People are reaching conclusions ahead of time. It’s sad.”
Raphinha scored the winner in first-half stoppage time with a shot from inside the world after an outstanding cross by Sergio Busquets. The lineman raised his flag however video assessment decided the Brazil ahead was in a authorized place.
There didn’t instantly look like something fallacious with the purpose by Williams, however the referee was requested to take a look at Iker Muniain’s contact of the ball together with his arm earlier within the buildup, and it was deemed to have been sufficient to disallow the purpose.
Bilbao, which stayed in ninth place, hit the woodwork a few instances and was additionally stopped by nice saves from Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen.
Bilbao has not gained any of its final seven video games in opposition to Barcelona within the league, with one draw and 6 losses since a 1-0 victory in 2009. The Basque Country membership has not scored in its final three video games in opposition to the Catalan membership within the competitors.
Robert Lewandowski returned for Barcelona after the striker missed a few matches due to an damage.
FRUSTRATING DRAW
Real Betis and Villarreal dropped factors of their bid for Champions League locations after a 1-1 draw.
Borja Iglesias opened the scoring for Betis within the thirty eighth minute and the hosts equalized by way of Yéremy Pino within the fifty fifth.
The end result saved Betis in fifth place, three factors behind Real Sociedad within the ultimate qualification spot for the Champions League. Villarreal stayed sixth, 4 factors behind Betis.
It was the second league attract a row for Betis after three straight victories. Villarreal had gained two consecutive video games within the league.
Third-place Atletico Madrid, stage on factors with Sociedad, visits midtable Girona on Monday.
SOCIEDAD WINLESS AGAIN
Carlos Fernández scored three minutes into the match however fourth-place Sociedad couldn’t handle greater than a 1-1 draw at Mallorca to see its winless streak attain 5 consecutive matches.
Sociedad has just one win — at Espanyol within the league in February — in its final 9 matches in all competitions. It has 4 attracts and 4 defeats throughout that run.
South Korea midfielder Lee Kang-in equalized early within the second half for Tenth-place Mallorca, which is winless in three consecutive video games.
SEVILLA’S MOMENTUM
Sevilla got here from behind to beat Almeria 2-1 at dwelling with targets from Lucas Ocampos within the first half and Erik Lamela within the second.
It was the second win in a row after three consecutive losses in all competitions for Sevilla, which moved to thirteenth place, two factors away from the relegation zone.
It was the fifth loss in six matches for Almeria, which opened the scoring with Sergio Akieme within the second minute.
Almeria dropped to second-to-last-place.
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