Luis Suarez strikes late, while Barcelona take the win at Rayo Vallecano | Football News

MADRID: The last goals of Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez allowed Barcelona, ​​champion of La Liga, to win 3 to 2 against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, to stay ahead of the overall standings.

Suarez scored a close center for Jordi Alba to give the Barca a deserved lead in the 11th minute after taking a brisk start on a field they had easily imposed on their previous five visits and was unable to win. had not lost since. 2002.

But Rayo, 19th on the board and with only one win all season, came back in the game and midfielder Jose Pozo broke the tying goal in the 35th minute.

Alvaro Garcia, Rayo winger, caused a delusional delusion at the start of the second half by hitting his side in front of the rebound after Thomas striker Raul hit the post with a diving head.

The Barca could have had a sense of déjà vu since his 2-1 defeat to Madrid by Leganes two months ago, in which they also threw their heads, and the Catalans adopted an unpretentious tactic to return in the match. Defender Gérard Pique is in front and often plays high balls in the box.

The Dembele substitute allowed the Barca to have no problem with a half-volley perfectly struck in the 87th minute as a result of a spike reversal.

Suarez, author of a hat-trick in Real Madrid's game last week, completed the return match three minutes later by grabbing center-back Sergi Roberto, scoring a fifth goal in half and a ninth. in total to place at the top of the scorecards of the league.

"We are obviously happy because the match was difficult for us," Barca coach Ernesto Valverde told reporters.

"We were good at first, but as they continued to close at the back, we started to have trouble, so we did not play the game that much. mastered the match, but in the end got our reward. "

Valverde did not think that we should blame his team for having worked hard to get to a team fighting for relegation.

"When Rayo is at home, he has many reasons to believe that it's possible to do something, he has quality players and it's not like we're playing and c & rsquo; It's like that, our opponents are playing too and they are fighting very hard, "he said.

Valverde's men lead the Liga with 24 points, four more than Atletico Madrid. Alaves can move from one point to another if they beat Eibar Sunday.

Meanwhile, Rayo's coach, Michel, was cursing his team's inability to cope with the Barca's late attack.

"Football is sometimes unfair but we have a lot to improve," he said.

"The Barca may be an excellent team, but he beat us tonight with baseball and we have to do a lot better, we continue to cash goals like the ones we conceded tonight."