French forward Ousmane Dembele scored a late goal as Barcelona took full advantage of their Monday night fixture against Real Valladolid at the Camp Nou in the La Liga.

The visitors, Real Valladolid, were strong in their play and stood toe-to-toe with Barcelona for a long time in the game.

Real Valladolid’S performance was not a reflection of their form before the match as the team won just one and drew one other of their last six games.

For long in the game, Real Valladolid frustrated Barcelona as the first half ended in a 0-0 draw.

The visitors could have had a penalty shout turned down but the biggest turning point of the game was when the referee awarded Real Valladolid player, Oscar Plano, a straight red card for a dangerous foul on Dembele with less than 10 minutes to play.

However, it was with one minute left in the game that Ousmane Dembele fired a shot past the goalkeeper at his near post to give Barca a much-needed 1-0 victory that puts them into second place above Real Madrid and behind Atletico Madrid on the La Liga table.

Ronald Koeman’s men are one point away from Atletico Madrid, who lost 1-0 to Sevilla at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday.

Up next for Barcelona is a game against Real Madrid in the El Clasico at the weekend.

Real Madrid are also still in the shop for the title with just three points away from Atletico Madrid in first and a win for Zinedine Zidane men in the El Clasico will see them go joint first with Atletico Madrid.

However, first Real Madrid would face Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowi