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MADRID. – Barcelona moved nine points clear at the top of the Spanish La Liga soccer table thanks to first-half goals from Luis Suarez and Neymar despite an unconvincing display in a 2-1 win at Las Palmas on Saturday. Suarez opened the scoring early on with his 41st goal of the season, but Willian Jose deservedly levelled for the hosts inside 10 minutes. Neymar restored the lead from close range before the break, but the European champions had to withstand a late onslaught from the Canary Islanders to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to 32 games. Barca’s closest challengers Atletico Madrid were looking at cutting the gap when they hosted Villarreal, whilst third-placed Real Madrid, who are now 10 points adrift of Barca, travelled to Malaga yesterday.

“To win titles you have to suffer and we’ve now had a couple of games away from home where we have struggled,” Suarez told Canal Plus. “It is always nice to play in a different way and win games easily, but these are the games which win you the league.”

Despite facing Arsenal in the Champions League tomorrow, Barcelona boss Luis Enrique rested only Gerard Pique, whilst Sergio Busquets was also suspended from the side that is expected to start at the Emirates. – AFP