Late goal helps give Barcelona big win

BARCELONA — Closer than ever to the title, Barcelona finished the last Spanish league “clasico” of the season by celebrating on the field at Camp Nou. Real Madrid was left complaining about the refereeing after seeing its chances of retaining the title all but end.

Barcelona took a major step toward winning its first league title since 2019 after coming from behind to beat Madrid 2-1 on Sunday, with Franck Kessié scoring in stoppage time to give the Catalan club the home victory and a 12-point lead over second-place Madrid with 12 matches to go.

Barcelona’s players huddled and celebrated in front of its fans after the final whistle.

Barcelona was saved by the VAR for the second consecutive game, as Madrid had a potential go-ahead goal by Marco Asensio called back in the 81st minute because of offside. Last week, it edged Athletic Bilbao when an 87th-minute equalizer by Athletic forward Iñaki Williams was disallowed by video review.

■ In the space of seven chaotic second-half minutes, Fulham was reduced to nine players, had their manager sent off and conceded twice in 3-1 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup quarterfinal. Grimsby’s FA Cup fairy tale is over after the fourth-tier team was beat 5-0 by Premier League Brighton.

■ Arsenal moved a step closer to a Premier League title after a 4-1 win against Crystal Palace moved Mikel Arteta’s team eight points clear at the top of the table.

■ Amine Adli was twice booked for diving, twice excused, and Bayer Leverkusen scored twice from the resulting penalties to upset Bayern Munich 2-1, leaving Borussia Dortmund on top of the Bundesliga.

■ Arnaud Kalimuendo scored against his boyhood club as leader Paris Saint-germain was beaten 2-0 by Rennes in its first home loss in the French league this season. Marseille later won 2-1 to end Reims’ 19match unbeaten run and cut PSG’S lead to seven points with 10 matches left.

■ Napoli continued its strong Serie A season, winning 4-0 at Torino in Serie A to remain 19 points ahead of second-place Lazio, which beat Roma 1-0.

■ Tim Weah will miss the United States’ CONCACAF Nations League matches against Grenada and El Salvador after getting hurt while playing for Lille. Weah entered the concussion protocol and will be replaced on the U.S. roster by Djordje Mihailovic of the Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.