Madrid: Substitute Xavi Hernandez scored a late goal to set Barcelona on their way to a 2-0 win over Granada that maintained their perfect start and sent them 11 points clear of bitter rivals Real Madrid.
The Catalan side have now picked up a maximum 15 points from their opening five games.
But for most of Saturday’s match they looked off-colour and appeared to be heading for a draw until Xavi’s goal four minutes from the end, which was then followed by an own-goal from Borja Gomez.
It was tough luck on Granada goalkeeper Tono Rodriguez, who had produced some excellent saves, but in the end he was helpless to stop Xavi’s strike, which went in off the crossbar.
“It was nice to score the goal which practically gave us the win. I just saw the keeper slightly off his line and I hit it with the outside of my boot,” said Xavi.
“At this stage of the season you can drop points, but we are on a winning run even though it is very early and there are things we have to improve.”
In other results, Celta Vigo beat Getafe 2-1 earlier in the day, while Zaragoza were able to defeat Osasuna 3-1. (AFP)
