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Barcelona earned a hard-fought 4-1 win at struggling Sevilla on Sunday thanks to goals by Robert Lewandowski, Fermin Lopez, Raphinha and Eric Garcia to edge them closer to the top of the LaLiga standings.
The win lifted third-placed Barca to 48 points, one behind Atletico Madrid in second and two adrift of leaders Real Madrid after the capital rivals drew 1-1 on Saturday.
Lewandowski gave Barca the lead from close range in the seventh minute but Ruben Vargas hit right back to equalise for the home side from a quick counter one minute later.
Lopez came off the bench and put Barca back in front two minutes after the break and Raphinha extended their lead in the 55th minute with a brilliant strike from outside the box.
Five minutes later, Barca were reduced to 10 men after Lopez was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Djibril Sow, but the visitors held off Sevilla and managed to score their fourth through Eric Garcia’s header in the 89th minute.