SOCCER: Barcelona beat 10-man Atletico to take major step towards title

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to score a late winner in a 2-1 victory away to 10-man Atletico Madrid on Saturday that moved the defending champions seven points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the LaLiga table.

Barcelona had plenty of motivation after Real's 2-1 loss at Mallorca earlier on Saturday, but it was the hosts who took the lead six minutes before the break through Giuliano Simeone.

The visitors responded with a Marcus Rashford goal three minutes later and Atletico had Nico Gonzalez sent off on the stroke of halftime. Lewandowski was in the right place to net a fortunate rebound three minutes from time.

Atletico remain fourth in the standings on 57 points, 19 points off Barcelona and the sides will meet again at the Camp Nou on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.

-Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne/Reuters