BARCELONA (Reuters) - Striker Robert Lewandowski scored a first-half penalty to give Barcelona a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano on Monday that moved them to top of the LaLiga standings.
Barca took advantage of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid dropping points over the weekend to leapfrog them from third-place to the top of the standings. Barca are level on 51 points with Real but ahead on goal difference.
Atletico trail both by a point, while in-form Rayo Vallecano are sixth on 35 points.
Barca did just enough to snap Rayo's nine-match unbeaten streak in the league, leaving them fuming over several controversial decisions by the referee.
After Pathe Ciss fouled Inigo Martinez inside the box, Mario Melero Lopez awarded the home side a penalty following a lengthy VAR check. Lewandowski netted the winner with a tidy finish from the spot in the 28th minute.
Despite Barca dominating possession, Rayo still looked the more dangerous of the two sides, forcing Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to put in a brilliant performance between the posts to frustrate their efforts.
Rayo players were left fuming when their pleas for a penalty was turned down after Pau Cubarsi appeared to foul Ciss -- an incident they felt was similar to the one when Barca were awarded the spot kick. Rayo were again left outraged when Jorge de Frutos' goal was harshly ruled out in the 42nd minute.
Defender Martinez made a crucial goalline clearance with his head right beforethebreak, while Szczesny kept working his magic in the second half to help secure the three points.
However, Rayo should have scored the equaliser when Jorge de Frutos missed a header from close-range in added time.
"I prefer to keep to myself my opinion regarding the referee today but everyone acts as they should or believe they should," a visibly frustrated Rayo manager Inigo Perez told Movistar Plus when asked about the controversial calls.
"You always have the pain of losing but today it will take a few hours for me to calm down considering everything that happened and the way we played. At the moment, the only word I can find is bitterness..."
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
