La Liga: Barcelona still winless away from home after Rayo Vallecano loss

FC Barcelona’s woes continue to pile on as veteran striker Radamel Falcao scored the winner in Rayo Vallecano’s 1-0 victory over the Catalan giants in La Liga on Wednesday.

This was Barcelona’s second consecutive defeat after the loss to Real Madrid in the “clásico” at home on Sunday. The Catalan club is still winless in away matches and only ninth in the standings with 15 points from 10 games.

It was the fifth straight home win for promoted Rayo, which moved to fourth place with 19 points from 11 matches, two points from leaders Real Sociedad and Sevilla with an extra game. The club had not beaten Barcelona at home in nearly two decades.

Barcelona missed a second-half penalty kick when forward Memphis Depay had his shot stopped by Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

Barcelona had not gone five consecutive away matches without a win in nearly 20 years.

In the duel between veteran strikers, Falcao got the best of Sergio Aguero, who made his first start with Barcelona after arriving from Manchester City this season.

The 35-year-old Falcao opened the scoring in the 30th minute in a breakaway that started after Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets lost possession near midfield. The Colombia veteran entered the area and got past defender Gerard Piqué with a cut-back move before sending his low shot into the far corner for his fourth goal since joining the Madrid club this season.

The 33-year-old Aguero had a few good chances in front of the net but failed to capitalize as Barcelona’s attack struggled as a whole. One of Aguero’s best opportunities was a close-range header that just missed deep into second-half stoppage time.

Depay’s penalty came in the 72nd minute after he was fouled inside the area.

Barcelona had won back-to-back games in all competitions before losing 2-1 to Madrid at the Camp Nou on Sunday. It had won its last 13 matches against Rayo in the league.

(With AP inputs)