Raphinha header gives Barcelona narrow win over Valencia

Brazilian winger Raphinha's first-half header was enough to give La Liga leader Barcelona a narrow win over struggling Valencia on Sunday despite being reduced to 10 men for the last half hour.

Barca, recovering from a disappointing loss last weekend at lowly Almeria, earned three hard-fought points even though it looked the weaker side for long stretches at Camp Nou.

It tops La Liga on 62 points, 10 clear of second-placed Real Madrid who plays at Betis later on Sunday. Valencia, who has won only one of its last 10 league matches, is second to last on 23 points.

Barca started strongly, led by Raphinha, who had a couple of early chances before nodding a header over the goalkeeper after a brilliant long pass by midfielder Sergio Busquets in the 15th minute.

Raphinha and Ansu Fati had opportunities to extend Barca's lead but Valencia recovered from the early blow to dominate proceedings and could have levelled the game with Thierry Correia, Samuel Lino and Ilaix Moriba all missing clear chances.