Barcelona find pivotal win in LaLiga race as Ousmane Dembele again inconsistent vs. Atletico Madrid

Ousmane Dembele scored the match-winner as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the Estadio Metropolitano on Sunday to move three points clear at the top of LaLiga.

Dembele fired past Jan Oblak in the 22nd minute after good work from Pedri and Gavi to cap Barca’s lively start with a goal. Atletico woke up after falling behind and Jose Maria Gimenez came close with a header before Antoine Griezmann forced a fine save from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Griezmann missed another chance after the break and Dembele wasted two openings to seal the game for Barca.

Both sides were reduced to 10 men in the 92nd minute when Ferran Torres and Stefan Savic were dismissed after coming together, while Barca still needed a stoppage-time goal-line clearance from Ronald Araujo to hold on for three valuable points on the road.