Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona: Pedri's goal opens up an 11 point lead in LaLiga
A seventh 1-0 win kept the Xavi-neta rolling in Villarreal on Sunday night
Barcelona beat Villarreal 1-0 on Sunday to open up an 11 point lead at the top of LaLiga.
Pedri scored the only goal of the game in the first half as Xavi Hernandez's side made it eight wins in a row in all competitions.
Real Madrid can cut the gap to eight points if they beat Elche in their rearranged game from this weekend on Wednesday.
Barça started well at Villarreal and should have taken the lead when Pedri fed Robert Lewandowski, who was denied by Pepe Reina.
The only goal of the game arrived in the 18th minute. Jules Kounde won the ball back high and Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Lewandowski combined to set up Pedri.
Lewandowski missed another chance just after before Villarreal finally came into the game.
Jose Luis Morales missed their best chance before the break when he hit the side netting after Pedri's mis-placed back pass.
The home side, led by former Barca coach Quique Setien, were much better in the second half without creating clear cut chances -- in part thanks to a tremendous performance from Ronald Araujo.
Barca suffered at times but could also have killed the game off, with Raphinha missing a particularly good chance.
It was a seventh 1-0 win for Barça in LaLiga this season and a 16th clean sheet in just 21 games. More importantly, they now have a healthy lead at the top of the standings.
