Five key stats from Barcelona 1-0 Sevilla | La Liga | OneFootball

Barcelona reclaimed pole position in the La Liga standings after securing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sevilla at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Friday night.

Barça had a host of chances to find the back of the net but lacked the clinical edge in front of goal to make them count.

In the end, it was an own goal from former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos that settled the tie in favour of Barcelona, handing the Catalans a vital victory.

It is only the second time in the 21st century that Barcelona have won a La Liga game by 1-0 being the winning goal an own goal from the opponent, following a match against Mallorca in April 2007 with Fernando Navarro’s own goal.

It was Sergio Ramos’ third own goal in La Liga, having done so twice for Real Madrid, both times against Sevilla.

The result also meant that Barça are now unbeaten in their last 16 games against Sevilla in La Liga (W12 D4), since a 1-2 defeat in October 2015, keeping a clean sheet in each of the last four.

After conceding two sloppy goals in the midweek game against Mallorca, Barcelona managed to secure a clean sheet against Sevilla.

It coincided with the return of Jules Kounde to the starting XI, with the Frenchman enjoying a solid season so far after being moved to his preferred role at centre-back.

In fact, in the 732 minutes that Kounde has been on the pitch in all competitions this season, no opponent has been able to dribble past him.

Lamine Yamal once again played an important role in the game after starting the contest, with his header being diverted into the net by Sergio Ramos to hand Barcelona all the points.

It was the the teenager’s fourth league start of the season which earned him the accolade of being the youngest player in La Liga history to start four games (16y 78d).