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Las Palmas stuns league leaders Barca on its 125th anniversary

Las Palmas stuns league leaders Barca on its 125th anniversary

Barcelona (AFP) – Las Palmas pulled off a surprise 2-1 win over La Liga leaders Barcelona on Saturday, spoiling the hosts’ 125th anniversary celebrations.

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Sandro Ramirez gave the visitors the lead early in the second half and although Raphinha equalized, Fabio Silva fired home to take the three points and send his side into 14th place.

Barcelona remain four points clear of champions Real Madrid but Los Blancos, who host Getafe on Sunday, have played two games fewer than Hansi Flick’s side.

The Catalans have played three league matches without a win after a run of 11 wins out of the previous 12 in the top flight.

“We had a bad game, we need to look at what we are doing poorly to try to improve and win games,” Rafinha told Movistar.

“We’ve lowered the level we were playing at and it’s making games harder for us. We need to keep working and improving…

“I don’t care about my goal, I care about winning, we didn’t win and I’m not happy with the game.”

Barcelona wore white shorts to celebrate their anniversary, as they did at the beginning of their history.

They held a gala in town on Friday night to mark the occasion as they were founded on November 29, 1899, but ceased to exist on Saturday afternoon.

The Catalans were able to name teenage star Lamin Yamal on the bench after recovering from an ankle problem.

Former Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen made a fine save to deny Fermin Lopez in the early stages and Las Palmas showed some enterprise on the counter-attack.

Barca defender Alejandro Balde was forced off with a concussion in the first half after a collision with Sandro and was replaced by Gerard Martin.

Las Palmas came close when Alberto Moleiro hit Javi Muñoz, who fired wide and Jules Kounde struck at the other end of the field.

Raphinha came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half, scoring from an offside position after Cillessen denied Pedri and hitting the crossbar after Gavi’s strike.

At half-time, Flick threw on Pablo Torre for Yamal, hoping the winger would give Barca an advantage after an equal first half.

“Giving All”

Las Palmas unexpectedly took the lead early in the second half when Quirian Rodriguez played in Ramirez, who fired home from just inside the penalty area.

Rafinha quickly hit back for Barcelona with a powerful long-range strike, but Las Palmas were soon ahead again.

Silva found Muñoz’s probing long pass and fired past Inaki Pena to restore the Canaries’ lead with his fifth goal in eight league games.

Cillessen made a good save to keep out Yamal’s shot as Barca looked for an equalizer and Viti made a brave block to thwart Pedri.

Las Palmas survived eight minutes of stoppage time with Dutch goalkeeper Cillessen again saving Yamal and two defenders desperately trying to block Robert Lewandowski’s late chance to seal the visitors’ victory.

“It was a very important win, we worked hard for it, Barca put a lot of pressure on you,” midfielder Moleiro told Movistar after Las Palmas claimed their first away win against Barcelona since 1971.

They have improved significantly since the arrival of coach Diego Martinez in October when they were bottom and the win helped them move five points clear of the relegation zone.

“Everyone gives their all and that’s what matters,” added Moleiro.