Barcelona: Barcelona took a monumental step toward the Spanish LaLiga crown, coming from behind to defeat 10-man Atl©tico Madrid 2-1 and capitalizing on Real Madrid's earlier loss at Mallorca.

According to Oman News Agency, Robert Lewandowski proved the unlikely hero in the 87th minute, bundling home off his shoulder from a rebound after Atl©tico goalkeeper Juan Musso had parried Joo Cancelo's driven shot. The fortuitous strike extended Barcelona's lead at the top of the table to seven points over Real Madrid, who fell 2-1 at Mallorca earlier in the day.

Atl©tico, now 19 points drift of the summit in fourth place, had opened the scoring at the Metropolitano Stadium through Giuliano Simeone in the 39th minute. The lead lasted just three minutes, however, as Marcus Rashford restored parity for the visitors in the 42nd.

The home side's hopes suffered a further deep blow into first-half stoppage time when Nico Gonz¡lez was shown a second yellow card, reducing Atl©tico to ten men for the entire second half.

Barcelona patiently probed against the resilient hosts before Cancelo's clever run down the left flank-complete with a series of sharp cutbacks-created the decisive moment. His shot was parried by Musso, only for the ball to ricochet off Lewandowski's shoulder and into the net.

Atl©tico have now lost three consecutive matches across all competitions and remain one point behind third-placed Villarreal, who visits Girona tomorrow (Monday). For Barcelona, victory inches them ever closer to the league title.