Barcelona held by Betis, miss chance to extend league lead

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April 5 (Reuters) - Barcelona spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top of the LaLiga standings when they were held at home 1-1 by Real Betis on Saturday, with visiting defender Natan cancelling out Gavi's early opener.

The draw moves Hansi Flick's Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday, while Betis climbed to fifth on 48 points.

The hosts had been given further motivation by Real's shocking loss and had a great start when Gavi opened the scoring from close range, brilliantly assisted by Ferran Torres in a great team play seven minutes after kick-off.

However, Natan headed the equaliser from a corner in the 17th minute and though they dominated, Barca could not find a way past 38-year-old goalkeeper Adrian who made a string of saves later on to frustrate the hosts.

Adrian's brilliant performance started even before Barca opened the scoring, when he palmed away Pedri's strike from inside the box, but there was nothing he could do to keep Gavi from scoring moments later.

Barca kept up the pressure after taking the lead but Betis equalised from a Giovanni lo Celso corner which Natan jumped higher than defender Ronald Araujo to meet and head into the back of the net.

Adrian came to the rescue again as he made a stunning one-handed save from a Lamine Yamal curling strike from inside the box in the 38th minute.

Coach Hansi Flick subbed on Raphinha in the second half and Barca came back even stronger, dominating more than 75% of possession but wasting too many chances.

The Brazilian forward was a constant menace and missed with a curling strike from the edge of the box, with Adrian making two great efforts to deny a Jules Kounde strike in the 55th minute and a Fermin Lopez shot in the 85th.

"If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it's football," Gavi told Movistar Plus.

"We're bitter about the result, because we couldn't take advantage of the chances we had throughout the match, but we have to accept it and move on."