ALMERIA: Barcelona faced a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Almeria in the top Spanish League on Sunday thanks to the winner scored by El-Bilal Toure.Â
La Liga leaders Barcelona wasted the opportunity to extend their lead to 10 points over arch-rivals and second-placed Real Madrid who finished a tense 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
The disappointing result ended the seven-game winning streak of the Catalan Giants in La Liga and came just days after the team was knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday by Manchester United.
Almeria capitalized on the home advantage and proved their dominance n the first half with a goal in the 24th minute when Luis Suarez sent a superb long pass to Toure who was ghosting behind the opponents’ defence. The Malian forward rushed towards the area and hit a tremendous strike in off the crossbar.
It was only the eighth goal Barcelona conceded in the current season.
Barcelona made five substitutions in the second but failed to find an equalizer against Almeria’s disciplined defence.
Almeria earned their first win after eight games and gained three crucial points in their bid to leave the relegation zone.
In another fixture LaLiga fixture on Sunday, Osasuna sealed a thrilling win over Sevilla by 3-2 thanks to the 85th-minute decider by Abde Ezzalzouli.
Earlier Celta Vigo breezed past Valladolid 3-0 at BalaÃdos while Girona stunned Athletic Club 3-2 at San Mames.
READ: Karachi Kings’ James Vince leaves PSL 8 for England duty