REPORT: BARCELONA COMEBACK SAVES TITLE BID
Ilkay Gundogan’s injury-time penalty stole victory for an uninspired Barcelona that were outplayed by Las Palmas for much of their return to La Liga action – but ultimately closed the gap to Real Madrid and Girona to seven points.
Barcelona were second-best in the first half and deservedly fell behind when Munir El Haddadi beat Inaki Pena to a 50-50 ball and turned it into the net, with Las Palmas almost doubling their lead when Sandro hit the post after 40 minutes.
However, Xavi’s team talk and personnel changes had the desired effect, as Barcelona emerged from half-time looking more focused and clinical against their tiring hosts.
Ferran Torres’ equaliser just 10 minutes into the second half had more than a hint of good fortune about it but had seemed inevitable, before Gundogan made the most of a push in the penalty area to earn the spot-kick that ultimately proved the difference.
New €40m signing Vitor Roque made his debut from the bench replacing a below-par Robert Lewandowski, but Xavi was handed another headache early on when Joao Cancelo departed with a knee injury.
