Erik ten Hag says top players should not have to be reminded what is acceptable as the Manchester United boss looks to move on from Marcus Rashford’s reported Belfast escapades.
Having scored 30 goals for the Red Devils in 2022-23, things have gone awry this term and the forward’s paltry four-goal haul has been compounded by some off-field matters.
Ten Hag called Rashford’s decision to go to a party after October’s derby defeat to Manchester City “unacceptable” and stories emerged in recent days of more late-night exploits.
The 26-year-old is reported to have gone out in Belfast last Thursday night until 3am and was unable to train the following day through illness, going on to miss Sunday’s FA Cup win at Newport.
United later said in a statement that “Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions” and the “internal disciplinary matter” is closed – something Ten Hag referred to ahead of Thursday’s trip to Wolves.
“So, he has taken responsibility and for the rest it’s an internal matter,” the Red Devils boss said. “Case closed.”
Ten Hag used the phrase “case closed” repeatedly, including when asked outright about Rashford’s reaction and whether the player had apologised for his actions.
But the Dutchman was more forthcoming on the obligations for elite players and the onus being on them to maintain high standards.
“First of all, the players at this level have to manage themselves,” Ten Hag said. “That is what you can demand from the player.
“A player has to know what is good and what is no good. When you want to play top football, it demands a certain way of life. Always.”
Pushed on whether he needs to reinforce that message, he interjected: “No. No, come on. We are talking about top football players.
“I don’t have to educate them anymore. When you are playing for Man United, they should know.”
Ten Hag underlined the need for accountability but says he takes potential matters going on behind the scenes into consideration when dealing with player behaviour.
“Of course, that is part of the job to support your players,” he said. “But also we have people in this club who are helping the players on that.
“But, as I said before, at the end of the day when you are a player at Man United you have to manage yourself and you have to take responsibility for your performance and your performance in a team.
“At Man United it’s winning football games. It’s all about that. It’s not so complicated.”
Rashford is not the first player to face internal disciplinary proceedings, with Jadon Sancho banished from September and Cristiano Ronaldo released by mutual agreement during Ten Hag’s first season.
Ten Hag brushed aside questions about whether the Rashford situation was a distraction or a test of his authority, but did speak about the difference to his handling of Sancho.
The 23-year-old claimed on social media in September he had been made a “scapegoat” after Ten Hag said he left him out of a matchday squad due to his training levels, leading to the exiled player leaving in the transfer window.
Asked to explain the difference in his approach with the pair, Ten Hag said: “We can sort out everything internal, but Jadon chose to go public.”
Sancho trained away from United’s first team before returning to Borussia Dortmund on loan, whereas Rashford is in contention for Thursday’s trip to Wolves.
The England international scored the winner as a substitute on the Old Trafford side’s last trip to Molineux, having been dropped to the bench for poor timekeeping.
Ten Hag disagrees that starting Rashford on Thursday may send out the wrong message and pointed to his absence at Newport, where he rejected the player’s offer to travel down on Sunday after two days off ill.
“I didn’t pick him on Sunday,” the United boss added. “We draw the line and from that point on we move on.”
Evangelos Marinakis believes Premier League chief executive Richard Masters did not speak appropriately when appearing to describe Nottingham Forest and Everton as “small clubs” at a parliamentary hearing.
Masters, under questioning at the Culture, Media and Sport Committee two weeks ago, was criticised after seeking to justify the league’s profit and sustainability rules to MPs.
Asked whether “big clubs” were treated differently under the rules, with deliberation over the 115 charges levelled against Premier League champions Manchester City ongoing, Masters said: “The standard directions (on PSR) are for everybody, they’re not just for the small clubs.”
Forest owner Marinakis responded to those comments at the racial and gender equity in European football conference being hosted by his club.
“I think that was not appropriate,” Marinakis said. “I think it was a bit careless. I think that Nottingham Forest and Everton are very big clubs and maybe are bigger than the ones that we consider today big clubs.
“Big team and small teams is maybe not an appropriate expression.”
At the same conference Thierry Henry, Lilian Thuram, Viv Anderson and Anthony Elanga joined other prominent footballers in signing a pledge to committing themselves to publicly push for racial equality in football.
The statement comes after players and Harvard academics discussed how to further anti-discriminatory aims and references recent cases of racist abuse faced by black professionals involving AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and Coventry midfielder Kasey Palmer.
Henry said the onus must be put on to football’s governing bodies to make change, saying: “Sometimes you have the sense that the players on the field are alone.”
Premier League leaders Liverpool restored their five-point advantage with a 4-1 win over Chelsea on a memorable night for youngster Conor Bradley and a typically frustrating one for Darwin Nunez.
With Manchester City beating Burnley and Arsenal winning on Tuesday, victory in the first of their major double-header – a trip to the Emirates is up next – was imperative but Jurgen Klopp’s side could not have expected to have had such a comfortable time.
Goals from Diogo Jota, Bradley – his first for the club – and Dominik Szoboszlai put the game beyond a woeful Chelsea inside 65 minutes but it could have been a rout as Nunez hit the woodwork an incredible four times – once from the penalty spot.
Thankfully for Liverpool his input was not needed as there was another star performer in the form of academy graduate Bradley, deputising for Trent Alexander-Arnold who was on the bench as he continued to make his comeback from injury, on only his second league start.
Bradley, man of the match against Norwich on Sunday, has been directly involved in six goals in his last four appearances and he deservedly departed to a standing ovation when Alexander-Arnold eventually took over.
Sheffield Wednesday’s winless run extended to three matches as they recorded a 0-0 draw at home to Watford in the Championship.
The Owls sit five points from safety after failing to take a number of chances at Hillsborough, while the visitors’ fourth draw in five league games left them three points off the play-off places.
Both sides looked eager to return to winning ways in an entertaining first period in which they each hit the woodwork, firstly the visitors through Matheus Martins before Ike Ugbo rattled the inside of the post for Wednesday.
The hosts went within inches of a breakthrough in the second half when Di’Shon Bernard was denied by Ben Hamer, but they could not find a winner.
Watford looked the more dangerous through the early stages down the right side and Vakoun Bayo’s deflected goal-bound effort tested the concentration of James Beadle.
The Yorkshire side settled into the contest and skipper Barry Bannan let rip with a rocket from 25 yards which was tipped behind by a diving Hamer.
Watford were denied an opener by the frame of the goal on the half-hour mark.
After Tom Dele-Bashiru was brought down just outside the box, Martins’ central free-kick deflected off the wall and Beadle could only watch on as the ball hit a post.
Watford were knocking on the door and should have taken the lead when Dele-Bashiru slipped through Bayo, he passed beyond the onrushing Beadle into the path of Martins who somehow hit the side-netting with an empty goal at his mercy.
It was Wednesday’s turn to strike the post just before the break when Ugbo rifled an effort on to the inside frame of the goal. Anthony Musaba could only guide his rebounded header into the grateful grasp of Hamer.
The chances continued in the second half and Watford went close when Ismael Kone drilled just wide of the target.
Wednesday’s decision making in defence allowed the visitors to put pressure on the goal and the Hornets came close once again when substitute Yaser Asprilla dispossessed Pol Valentin before firing straight at Beadle.
Wednesday thought they had finally opened the scoring midway through the second half. Bannan’s inswinging free-kick found Bernard at the back post who thought he nudged beyond Hamer, only for the Hornets keeper to stop the ball on the line at the second time of trying.
Bannan’s set-pieces were causing problems for the away side and the Owls captain delivered a floater on to the head of Michael Smith who diverted wide.
Wednesday continued to fight until the final whistle but Hamer was once again the saviour for Watford who magnificently kept out Musaba’s 20-yard strike which looked to be heading into the top corner.
Jrue Holiday is happy to do things the hard way occasionally after helping the Boston Celtics survive a fightback from the Indiana Pacers.
The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics battled to a 129-124 victory at TD Garden on Tuesday to go 37-11 for the season.
Indiana rallied from 20 points down late in the first half to make it 127-124, but big back-to-back stops kept the Celtics' lead intact.
Holiday saw out the victory for his side with two free throws and has no complaints about being made to sweat for the win.
"We've got to be able to fight through everything," he said. "Fight through expectations, fight through being up 20.
"Fight through somebody having a great third quarter and finishing games. If it was easy the whole time, what's the fun in that?"
Jayson Tatum scored 30 points and came up with two blocks in the final 30 seconds as the Celtics made it five wins in six games.
Jaylen Brown also impressed with 25 points, while Derrick White added 24 for Boston, who claimed the season series with Indiana 3-2.
"You have to be able to win games with your defense," coach Joe Mazzulla said.
"It's a tough balance for us because we always talk about how the game's connected. You can't have one without the other.
"But there's moments when they both have to be elite. We had really good defense down the stretch and made some winning plays."
Aaron Nesmith had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Pascal Siakam added 23 as Indiana, who had won three in a row, fell short of a comeback.
"We got outplayed in the second half, for sure," Brown said.
"But when it came down to it in the wire, fourth quarter, we were able to nudge out and win just by matching the physicality.
"We rebounded better in the fourth quarter, a lot better than we did all game, and then that just helped us win."
The Celtics, boasting the best record in NBA, face the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. The 27-21 Pacers meet the New York Knicks the same day.
Tottenham moved back into the Champions League places after three goals in eight second-half minutes fired them to a chaotic 3-2 win at home to Brentford.
Spurs were sluggish in the first half and trailed to Neal Maupay’s 15th-minute opener but Ange Postecoglou’s half-time team talk seemingly did the trick.
Destiny Udogie and substitute Brennan Johnson scored within 72 seconds of each other at the start of the second period before Richarlison grabbed his seventh goal in his last seven Premier League games.
There was still time for Ivan Toney to score again on his second appearance since his return from a betting ban but Tottenham held on to leapfrog Aston Villa and reclaim fourth spot.
Spurs were eager to bounce back after exiting the FA Cup last Friday and James Maddison was handed a start but Brentford also had their returning hero involved with Toney leading the line again.
While all eyes were on Toney, it was the Bees’ other forward who broke the deadlock.
Udogie gave away possession to Christian Norgaard who sent Toney clear and while goalkeeper uglielmo Vicario thwarted the England international, Maupay was on hand to bundle in to score for a fourth consecutive match.
Maupay and Toney celebrated by mimicking Maddison’s dart throw celebration but it was a deserved opener after Mads Roerslev had a goal ruled out for offside minutes earlier.
Postecoglou’s side initially reacted well to going behind with Timo Werner testing Mark Flekken after a fine Rodrigo Bentancur run before Werner headed wide from a Pedro Porro corner.
Richarlison then flashed an effort past the post from range but Spurs started to get sucked into Brentford’s gameplan that has earned them multiple wins at Chelsea and success at Man City during the past two seasons.
Frustration began to boil over at the away side’s pedestrian pace at set-pieces and the Bees nearly doubled their advantage when Ethan Pinnock backheeled wide after another dangerous ball into Tottenham’s penalty area.
Dejan Kulusevski and Maupay were booked by David Coote for a shoving match soon after before Vicario punched away a Toney header to ensure it was 1-0 at the break.
Postecoglou made a double change at half-time with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Johnson introduced.
Werner and Udogie lacked cutting edge in the first half but combined to equalise three minutes into the second half.
Udogie carried the ball forward, played a quick one-two with Werner and, after his first effort had been blocked by Pinnock, he was on hand to slot home to make it 1-1.
The Brentford players had barely got back into position when Tottenham grabbed another.
Kulusevski sent Werner away and the RB Leipzig loanee showed a clinical edge with a fine ball to the back post where substitute Johnson tapped in.
Johnson celebrated by copying Maddison’s darts celebration and Richarlison followed suit in the 56th minute.
Tottenham were at their free-flowing best now with Udogie finding Maddison, who cut back and had a shot blocked by Pinnock but Richarlison was on hand to steer home.
Brentford remained a threat and after Toney had sent two efforts wide, he made it third time lucky in front of England manager Gareth Southgate with 67 minutes played.
It was another gift from Udogie, who failed to look up and sent his pass back straight to Toney and he rifled into the corner to set up a grandstand finish.
Maddison’s night ended early with what appeared to be cramp before the Bees created one final chance but Vicario tipped over Josh Dasilva’s close-range volley to earn Spurs a precious three points.
Julian Alvarez struck twice and Erling Haaland returned to action as Manchester City eased to a 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Burnley.
Argentinian World Cup-winner Alvarez, on his 24th birthday, netted twice in the first half and Rodri added a third as the champions went untroubled until Ameen Al-Dakhil grabbed a stoppage-time consolation at the Etihad Stadium.
City were further cheered by the sight of Haaland returning from injury as a late substitute while Kevin De Bruyne made his first Premier League start since August.
It was a miserable return to the ground for former City captain Vincent Kompany, the Burnley manager, with his side comprehensively beaten and left seven points adrift of safety.
Given their predicament and having conceded 37 goals in their previous nine visits to the Etihad, the Clarets were hardly expected to trouble the treble winners.
Yet this was an especially limp performance and City, aided by some poor defending, barely got out of second gear.
After 15 minutes of the home side calmly controlling possession, Phil Foden caught the visitors off-guard as he released Matheus Nunes with a flicked ball.
The Portuguese’s first cross was blocked but he was given all the time he needed to attempt it for a second time, and casually picked out an unmarked Alvarez to head home from close range.
Burnley were caught napping again just six minutes later as the striker doubled City’s lead from a cleverly-taken set-piece.
De Bruyne spotted a huge gap in the area as he lined up a free-kick and played a low ball in for Alvarez to turn and slot past former City youngster James Trafford.
It was a routine that had clearly been worked on in training as manager Pep Guardiola made a point of congratulating his assistant Carlos Vicens, a dead-ball specialist.
City threatened more as Nunes tested Trafford from a tight angle and a dangerous Jeremy Doku cross was turned behind.
Burnley had a rare chance when Lyle Foster curled an effort narrowly wide but City tightened their grip in the opening minute of the second half.
Foden was again instrumental as he raced onto a De Bruyne throughball and pulled back for Rodri, who nonchalantly passed into the net from the edge of the area.
Burnley had a fleeting opportunity as Zeki Amdouni blazed over and their frustration was evident as Connor Roberts got involved in a needless confrontation with Rico Lewis and Ederson.
After that the biggest cheers from City fans came as Haaland entered the fray 19 minutes from time.
He was unable to find the net despite some good runs and one air shot.
Burnley had the final say when Al-Dakhil turned in a cross from debutant David Datro Fofana’s cross but the outcome had long since been determined.
Danny Cipriani has retired from professional rugby and declared it a “sobering but also freeing moment”.
The 16-times capped England outside-half had not played since 2022 and was “semi-retired”.
But the 36-year-old has now officially called time on a colourful career that included two spells at Wasps as well as stints at Melbourne Rebels, Sale, Gloucester and Bath.
“Even though I’ve been semi-retired. This is my official announcement,” Cipriani wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“I haven’t played for a while, but in my mind I left it open.
“Messaging my agent as I sit outside Costa, I realised I don’t want to play again. Sobering but also freeing moment.”
Cipriani made his England debut in 2008 with his last appearance coming against South Africa in 2018.
There was no disputing Cipriani’s natural talent but off-pitch problems were a common theme of his career.
“Thank you to all the coaches I’ve had, taken lots away from each one of you,” Cipriani wrote.
“All the staff at every club who are always the greatest mix of personalities, thank you for often being the heartbeat of the club.
“To the supporters who turned up and wore their heart on their sleeves, thank you for showing love throughout my career, special memories from all the fans of each team I played at.
“To all my team mates I played with, man I loved it, I know sometimes I could be relentless, we did have some fun out there though.
“Learnt so much throughout my career and when I reflect, I’m grateful for every moment.
“Anyway, from a semi-retired now officially retired ex rugby player. I couldn’t be more excited for right now, and what’s in store in the future!”
LeBron James is unable to explain the Los Angeles Lakers' inconsistent form after his side went down 138-122 to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Lakers have followed up wins over the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors with losses to the Houston Rockets and now the Hawks.
With a record of 24-25, the Lakers find themselves ninth in the Western Conference ahead of facing the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
LeBron posted an underwhelming 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists at State Farm Arena on Tuesday as his side fell to a fourth defeat in seven.
"We could, on any given night, beat any team in the NBA," he told reporters. "Then on any given night, we can get our a** kicked by any team.
"That's just the [facts]. What's our record? Under .500? What, 24-25? That's where we are."
The Lakers now have to lift themselves for their trip to the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics, before then facing the New York Knicks.
James is hoping to hit back in those games and regain some momentum after quickfire double-digit defeats.
"When I'm healthy enough to play, I just try to perform at a high level," he said. "I want to help my team-mates do great things out there.
"Win, lose or draw, I want to be satisfied with the way I approach the game."
Trae Young starred for the Hawks with 26 points, which included knocking down his first six attempts from the 3-point range.
De'Andre Hunter added six points in his 16 minutes on the court as he made his comeback after six weeks out, missing 19 games in total.
Atlanta are now 20-27 for the season and face the Phoenix Suns next up as they search for a third-straight win.
"Any team can do it one night or two nights in row," Young said. "We've just got be consistent with it.
"Hopefully we can string together some wins that propel us forward to where we want to go and need to be."
World Rugby has revealed legal action is being taken after match officials and players suffered online abuse during the 2023 World Cup.
One individual in Australia has been charged for online abuse, cases in other jurisdictions are pending – including France, New Zealand the UK – and 1,600 social media accounts have been reported to platforms for breach of their community guidelines.
England’s Wayne Barnes announced his retirement five days after refereeing the Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand, with his wife Polly revealing that he had received death threats while at the tournament in France and had suffered such abuse many times.
Referee Tom Foley announced in December he would take a break from international rugby because of the “torrent of criticism and abuse” he received after the final, where he was the television match official.
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said: “The rise of online hate in society and sport is worrying and totally unacceptable and we will continue to do everything possible to protect and support our international match officials and their families by bringing abusers to justice.
“As a result of our partnership with Signify Group we have been able to unmask and identify abusers and take action through law enforcement agencies in multiple countries.
“We hope that prosecutions will send a clear message that such behaviour is not tolerated and even if a person hides behind an alias on a social media network, they will be identified and can be charged.
“It is important to note that this programme is not about suppressing debate, legitimate criticism or free speech, it is about maintaining respect, compassion and decent human and rugby values.
“We will use the recommendations of the report to better understand online trends and help address the areas that lead to abuse at source. Some of these aspects will play into our Shape of the Game conversations in February.”
More than 900 social media accounts, including those belonging to all match officials with public-facing social accounts, were monitored by Signify Group during the seven weeks of the World Cup last September and October.
The accounts monitored also included the families of match officials and World Rugby’s bona fide channels.
The impact of the work comes on the eve of ‘Whistleblowers’, an access-all-areas film following the match officials’ journey to and through the 2023 tournament, which also highlights the scale of online abuse they faced, being broadcast.
World Rugby said that in the case of more extreme abusive accounts flagged to platforms, takedown rates are running at approximately 90 per cent.
Barnes said: “Those who abuse or threaten players, match officials or their families must realise there will be consequences for their actions.
“It is great to see World Rugby leading the way and seeing the first charges being made against those individuals who send such appalling messages.
“There is simply no place for that behaviour in rugby, in sport or in society.”
Match officials, including TMOs, received 49 per cent of the total abuse during the tournament.
Three match officials were in the top 10 most targeted individuals and Barnes was the most targeted person, receiving one third of all abuse.
The England team received the largest volume of abuse, followed by South Africa and France.
Caribbean representatives Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica had to settle for eighth and 16th positions respectively after both produced credible efforts at the FIH Hockey 5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman, on Wednesday.
Trinidad and Tobago suffered a narrow 5-7 loss to Kenya in the seventh and eighth-place playoff, while Jamaica, making an historic appearance at the tournament, also went down by two goals in their 2-4 loss to Fiji in the 15th-16th-place encounter.
Netherlands were crowned champions following their 5-2 beating of Malaysia in the final.
Earlier in the tournament, Trinidad and Tobago registered a 5-5 stalemate with Australia, defeated Kenya 7-2 and then thumped New Zealand 11-4.
However, the twin island republic lost their quarter-final tie 4-5 against Malaysia, and then lost 5-8 to Egypt in the fifth to eighth-place playoff.
Meanwhile, the Jamaicans lost all six games played, but would have benefitted immensely from their debut outing on the world stage.
The Duvaughn Henlon-coached team first suffered a 2-10 loss to Egypt, but produced a more respectable showing in their 4-6 loss to Switzerland in their second encounter. They were also beaten 13-0 and 15-2 and 8-1 by India, Pakistan and United States respectively.
Fabian Stewart, Jamaica Hockey Federation (JHF) president, took heart from the team’s performance and, by extension, top 16 ranking, which he believes is a solid platform to build on going forward.
“The positive of participating in this tournament is that Jamaica is in the top 16 of countries that are playing hockey5s. We earned our spot to come to this tournament and it is clear that we are in the top 16. So we are in the top tier, globally,” said Stewart.
“The players have learnt a lot. The game is played in a particular manner and all the players can actually see the sort of speed they play with.
“We played against top-tier countries that we never got an opportunity to see or play against, but we understand that how we played in parts, we can actually handle them, but we have to be more consistent. But our coaches and staff have seen what is required to operate at this level,” he added.
Vitor Roque’s maiden Barcelona goal saw the LaLiga champions win their first match since boss Xavi’s announcement that he is to depart as 10-man Osasuna were beaten 1-0 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Roque, the 18-year-old Brazil forward recently signed from Athletico Paranaense, opened his Barca account with a header just past the hour mark, a minute after coming off the bench.
Despite having Unai Garcia sent off four minutes later, Osasuna showed some threat as they sought an equaliser but Barca were able to see out the win.
Xavi’s men bounced back after successive losses in the Copa del Rey at Athletic Bilbao and Saturday’s 5-3 home loss to Villarreal, after which the former Spain midfielder announced he would be leaving the club this summer, with the gap between them and leaders Girona reducing to eight points.
Japan maintained their pursuit of a record-extending fifth Asian Cup title on Wednesday by advancing to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win against Bahrain.
The pre-tournament favourites have bounced back from a surprise 2-1 loss against Iraq in the group stage and will play Iran in the next round.
Goals from Ritsu Doan, Takefusa Kubo and Ayase Ueda secured Japan's place in the last eight, while Zion Suzuki's own goal was the only consolation for Bahrain.
Japan went ahead in the 31st minute when Seiya Maikuma's long-range shot came back off the post and Doan converted on the rebound.
Kubo doubled the lead four minutes into the second half when he spun and finished from close range.
The Japan goalkeeper then tried to catch the ball, but collided with Ayase, who was attempting to head clear off the goal-line and the ball was fumbled into the net.
Ayase restored Japan's two-goal advantage eight minutes later when firing low at the near post to beat Bahrain keeper Ebrahim Lutfalla.
Three-time champions Iran later needed a penalty shoot-out to beat Syria, one of the tournament's surprise packages.
Down to 10-men after Mehdi Taremi was sent off in time added on, Iran eventually won 5-3 on spot-kicks at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. The game ended 1-1 after extra time.
Taremi fired Iran ahead with a penalty in the 34th after he had been fouled by Aiham Ousou.
Syria then equalised from the spot through Omar Khrbin in the 64th minute after Pablo Sabbag was brought down by Iran keeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Syria were playing in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup for the first time and were given an advantage when Taremi was sent off in the first minute of stoppage time for a second bookable offence.
In the shoot-out, Beiranvand's save from Fahd Youssef proved the decisive moment as Iran converted all of their spot kicks. It is the eighth time in a row that Iran have advanced to the quarter-finals.
Barcelona returned to winning ways as substitute Vitor Roque secured a 1-0 home victory over 10-man Osasuna in the LaLiga champions’ first match since Xavi announced he is to stand down as boss.
Roque, the 18-year-old Brazil forward recently signed from Athletico Paranaense, opened his Barca account with a header just past the hour mark, a minute after coming off the bench.
Despite having Unai Garcia sent off four minutes later, Osasuna showed some threat as they sought an equaliser but Barca were able to see out the win.
Xavi’s men bounced back following successive defeats in the Copa del Rey at Athletic Bilbao and Saturday’s 5-3 home loss to Villarreal, after which the former Spain midfielder announced he would be leaving the club this summer.
The Blaugrana cut the gap between them and leaders Girona to eight points and, at least temporarily, moved up a place to third in the table ahead of Atletico Madrid.
Xavi made four changes from the Villarreal game, bringing in Ferran Torres, Pedri, Joao Cancelo and 17-year-old defender Pau Cubarsi.
One of the adjustments was enforced with Joao Felix dropping out after joining Barca’s lengthy list of unavailable players due to an ankle issue sustained in training.
And they were hit with another injury setback only a few minutes into the game as Torres suffered a thigh problem and had to be substituted, with Fermin Lopez coming on.
Robert Lewandowski nodded wide of the Osasuna goal soon after as he met a free-kick from Ilkay Gundogan, whose corner was then headed just over by Jules Kounde in the 35th minute.
The closing stages of the first half saw Lopez shoot too high and Kounde go close with another header.
There was further frustration for the hosts after the break with Lamine Yamal hitting a shot straight at goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez and a Gundogan header going wide before Roque, within seconds of replacing Lopez, connected with Cancelo’s cross to break the deadlock from close range in the 63rd minute.
Osasuna were then reduced to 10 men with Roque involved again, Garcia collecting a second booking having fouled the substitute.
That brought an admirable response from the visitors, with Raul Garcia’s shot hitting the post and Jon Moncayola bringing a good save out of Inaki Pena.
After Lewandowski saw an effort ruled out for offside, Pablo Ibanez then headed wide at the other end as Osasuna’s late push proved in vain.
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