Barcelona march on towards title with 2-0 victory at Getafe

Barcelona's Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring their second goal with Fermin Lopez. REUTERS

Barcelona continued their march towards the LaLiga title with a 2-0 victory at Getafe on Saturday, as goals from Fermin Lopez and Marcus Rashford secured them a ninth consecutive league win.

The result moved Barcelona to 85 points, 11 ahead of second-placed Real Madrid with five rounds remaining, following Real's 1-1 draw at Real Betis on Friday. Getafe are sixth with 44 points.

While Barcelona sought to maintain momentum with the title within reach, Getafe, competing for European qualification, kept the visitors at bay for much of the first half.

The breakthrough arrived for Barcelona just before the interval as Lopez latched onto a Pedri through ball, charging into the area to steer a clinical, low finish into the bottom corner.

Barcelona secured the points in the 74th minute following a clinical counter-attack initiated from a Getafe throw-in deep in the visitors' half. Rashford collected the ball on the halfway line and drove forward largely unchallenged before dispatching a composed, low strike from the edge of the penalty area.