GETAFE: Fermin Lopez and Marcus Rashford&#39;s goals took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with a 2-0 win at Getafe on Saturday. The defending champions moved 11 points clear of second place Real Madrid, who drew at Real Betis on Friday to dent their hopes of finishing the season with a trophy. Hansi Flick&#39;s side can win their second consecutive Spanish title if they overcome Osasuna next weekend and Real Madrid fail to beat Espanyol. &quot;It&#39;s not done, we have five more games and we&#39;re only focused on the next one,&quot; Flick told reporters. &quot;We will celebrate when it&#39;s time, but not now.&quot; Barcelona were without vital injured wingers Lamine Yamal and Raphinha but still did enough to see off Jose Bordalas&#39;s tricky side, sixth, in the Madrid suburbs. &quot;We were aware of what was going to happen here, we were going to have few chances and I think we played well, competing well defensively and putting away the chances we had,&quot; Lopez told Movistar. &quot;We know we&#39;ve got a big advantage (in the title race) but even so, we can&#39;t relax, I know it&#39;s a cliche but it&#39;s the truth.&quot; Getafe set out to disrupt Barcelona&#39;s rhythm with small fouls and Barca struggled to create many clear opportunities. Flick opted for Swedish winger Roony Bardghji in place of Yamal and chose Lopez on the left over Rashford. Dani Olmo made the first with a neat dribble, speeding into Getafe territory, but pulled his shot wide of the far post. Eventually the hosts made the breakthrough just before half-time when Pedri played in Lopez. Wearing a protective mask after hurting his face in a collision with Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Juan Musso during Barcelona&#39;s Champions League quarter-final elimination last week, Lopez stayed calm to slot home. The midfielder imitated Yamal&#39;s usual &quot;304&quot; celebration in tribute to the injured teenage star. &quot;The truth is he&#39;s really important for us, it&#39;s a shame that he can&#39;t play any more, but the important thing is that he recovers well and is ready for the World Cup,&quot; added Lopez. With Getafe needing to come out of their shell to find an equaliser, Barca had more opportunities after the break. David Soria saved from Olmo after he met Jules Kounde&#39;s cross, and then the French defender headed a Joao Cancelo ball narrowly off-target.

Football

Barcelona beat Getafe 2-0 through Fermin Lopez and Marcus Rashford, moving 11 points clear atop La Liga after Real Madrid’s draw. Hansi Flick urged focus, with title within reach if results weekend go their way.

Barcelona on brink of La Liga triumph with Getafe win

ELCHE: Barcelona eased to a 3-1 win at Elche to move four points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday, with goals from Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford.&nbsp;Hansi Flick&#39;s side created several more clear chances in an entertaining clash but the woodwork and some profligate finishing stopped them from securing a far bigger victory.&nbsp;Alvaro Arbeloa&#39;s Real Madrid, second, host Rayo Vallecano on Sunday aiming to restore the gap back to one point.&nbsp;Elche, 12th, have impressed this season and created good chances of their own at the Martinez Valero stadium, but Barca were too strong for them, even though they did not take all their chances.&nbsp;&quot;We got three more points and we&#39;re still growing as a team, which is very important because we still have not reached our top level I think,&quot; Barca midfielder Frenkie de Jong told Movistar.&nbsp;&quot;Normally we have players who finish very well, maybe in a game you miss your chances, but the important thing is that we&#39;re generating them.&quot;&nbsp;Teenage star Yamal opened the scoring after six minutes after Dani Olmo sent him through on goal.&nbsp;The 18-year-old coolly rounded goalkeeper Inaki Pena, a former Barca player, and slotted home. Olmo came close to doubling Barca&#39;s lead but clipped the top of the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the box.&nbsp;After a groin issue troubled Yamal during the first half of the campaign, in recent weeks he has returned to his top level.&nbsp;Elche equalized with a well-worked move to get Alvaro Rodriguez in behind Barca&#39;s high line and he fired past Joan Garcia.

Barcelona beat Elche 3-1 with goals from Yamal, Torres, and Rashford, extending their La Liga lead to four points. Despite missed chances and hitting the woodwork, Barca dominated, while Elche impressed with their attacking play.

Articles tagged with "Marcus Rashford"

Barcelona on brink of La Liga triumph with Getafe win

Barca triumph at Elche to extend Liga lead