Barcelona needed a late penalty to secure a 2-1 win over Las Palmas on Thursday in their first La Liga game of 2024 to boost their chances of keeping up with Real Madrid and Girona at the top of the table.

Real Madrid needed a late header from Antonio Rudiger to beat Mallorca on Wednesday while Girona defeated Atletico Madrid in a seven-goal thriller on the same night.

Barcelona were also made to sweat for the victory as Las Palmas dominated the first half so much so that Barcelona didn’t have a shot on target. The hosts took a 12th-minute lead through Munir Haddadi, taking advantage of the poor Barcelona defense that characterized the first part of the season.

Two ex-Barcelona players Sandro Ramírez and Munir El Haddadi combined as the latter tapped home the opener to hand Las Palmas a surprise lead. Barcelona didn’t perform as expected in the first half and the hosts continued to pressurize.

Javier Muñoz struck from distance, but Barcelona’s Iñaki Peña was equal to the volley and Sandro’s follow-up unfortunately struck off the post to safety.

Barcelona emerged as a totally different side in the second half and they almost equalised as Raphinha curled an effort inches wide within minutes of the restart. Moments later, pressure on the Las Palmas goal gave Barcelona a fortunate opportunity for Ferran Torres to tap in a rebound.

In between the second-half action, Barcelona boss, Xavi, gave Brazilian youngster Vitor Roque his debut as a substitute and he almost repaid Xavi’s faith in him but it was a Las Palmas defense error that undid their good job from the start.

Las Palmas’s Daley Sinkgraven bundled over İlkay Gündoğan in the area and was red-carded after. The German dusted stroked home the penalty, to ensure the Catalan giants remain within striking distance of LaLiga’s pacesetters.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu