9 hours ago
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Goals from Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford guided Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Elche on Sunday, propelling the defending champions to second place in La Liga with 25 points, five adrift of the leaders, Real Madrid.
Looking to bounce back after their 2-1 loss to Madrid in last weekend’s clásico, Barcelona wasted no time in asserting their dominance at Montjuïc’s Olympic Stadium. They made the most of two defensive errors by Elche in the opening minutes to grab a two-goal lead with strikes by Lamine Yamal and Torres in the ninth and 11th minutes.
The first came when David Affengruber’s errant pass was intercepted by Alejandro Balde. The left-back surged forward and delivered a precise through ball to Lamine Yamal, who showed exceptional composure, cutting inside before unleashing a left-footed shot into the top corner. It was his first league goal since 31 August and was a much-needed boost for the 18-year-old after weeks of struggling with a lingering groin injury.
Two minutes later, the Elche right-back Adria Pedrosa slipped while attempting to control the ball in his own half and Fermin López capitalised, pouncing on the loose ball and racing to the byline before delivering a low cross into the six-yard box, where Torres was on hand to tap the ball into the net, doubling Barcelona’s advantage.
Rafa Mir reduced the deficit, scoring from a quick counterattack right before the break, but Rashford extended the home side’s lead with a great finish from inside the box in the 61st minute, securing three valuable points.
Elche continued to fight and went close to narrowing the deficit again in the 67th minute, with Mir rattling the woodwork for the second time. Despite the visitors’ efforts, Barcelona maintained control in the closing stages to secure three valuable points.
Torres told Dazn: “It was very important to start strong and intense. From there, we could take the game where we wanted it to go. We knew the type of game they were going to play and we started very strong. We were a bit off afterwards, but we found our spirit and our intensity again in the second half.”
Inter claimed a fortunate 2-1 victory at Hellas Verona in Serie A, with a brilliant Piotr Zielinski strike and a last-gasp own goal from Martin Frese securing the win.
In the 16th minute Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner found an unmarked Zielinski on the edge of the box. The Polish midfielder curled a superb right-footed volley into the top-left corner to open the scoring.
Verona struck back five minutes before the break when Giovane was released down the right, holding off the Inter defence before firing home a sharp, angled shot. In first-half stoppage time, Verona nearly turned the match around when a swift passing move around Inter’s box ended with a one-touch flick from Gift Orban that grazed the base of a post before going wide.
The second half began at a slower tempo with few clear chances until Verona launched a counterattack that ended with Inter’s Yann Aurel Bisseck fortunate to escape with only a yellow card after tripping Giovane.
Deep in stoppage time, as the rain poured down, Nicolò Barella sent a long ball into the box that deflected off the Verona defender Frese and spun into the bottom corner, sealing a dramatic late winner for Inter.
Inter are now one point behind the leaders, Napoli. They can both be overtaken in the evening match, when Roma, now level with Inter, visit Milan, who are fourth, three points worse off than their opponents.
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