Barcelona increases Spanish league lead by beating Mallorca 1-0 on Dani Olmo's goal

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MADRID (AP) — Dani Olmo scored early in the second half as Barcelona defeated Mallorca 1-0 to increase its Spanish league lead on Tuesday.

The home win gave the Catalan club a seven-point lead over Real Madrid, which visits Getafe on Wednesday. Barcelona, seeking its first league title since 2023, has five league games left.

Olmo's winner came a minute into the second half at Montjuic stadium, with the playmaker finding the net from inside the area.

It was the third consecutive victory for Barcelona in the league. The Catalan side had 40 attempts on goal, while Mallorca had only four — none on target

“We created many scoring opportunities and we should have taken advantage of them, but that's soccer,” Barcelona midfielder Gavi said. “We can't always score easily. We insisted until we finally scored and that's what's important.”

Mallorca, which has only two wins from its last nine matches, stayed in seventh place.

Barcelona and Madrid will meet in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday in Seville.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick made several changes to his starting lineup, with forward Ansu Fati making his first league start in nearly six months. Striker Robert Lewandowski was absent because of a muscle injury.

“We played a great match,” Gavi said. “I'm happy for the players who rotated and got to play.”

Earlier Tuesday, Espanyol's three-game winning streak ended with a 1-1 draw at Valencia, which has drawn two in a row after three straight victories.

The result left both teams tied on 39 points, though Espanyol has a game in hand. Valencia was in 14th place, just behind Espanyol.

Also Wednesday, Celta Vigo hosts fifth-place Villarreal, and Las Palmas visits fourth-place Athletic Bilbao. Relegation-threatened Alaves welcomes ninth-place Real Sociedad.

On Thursday, third-place Atletico Madrid hosts midtable Rayo Vallecano, while sixth-place Real Betis visits last-place Valladolid, which has lost 12 of its last 13 matches.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer