FC Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring the third goal during the La Liga match against Real Valladolid at Camp Nou in Barcelona on August 28, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
BARCELONA: Robert Lewandowski scored twice in a row to give Barcelona a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Valladolid in LaLiga on Sunday.
Barça’s second win in three games in the new season puts them in second place with seven points, two points behind leaders Real Betis and provisionally one point behind Real Madrid, who face Espanyol on Sunday. surfaced in
After a frustrating draw with low-ranking Rayo Vallecano in the season opener, Barcelona boosted their confidence last week with a 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad.
Against Valladolid, he maintained his momentum and was finally able to bring in French defender Jules Kunde. Kunde missed the first two games of the season after Barcelona were unable to register him as a player after struggling to comply with LaLiga’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
With Barça dominating the match and giving Valladolid no chances, Kunde played from the start of Sunday and put on a solid show.
Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele both closed in on Barça and hit the post in the first half, but Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 24th minute as he fired home from close range from a perfect Rafinha cross to the far post. It didn’t take long. minute.
Barcelona extended their lead just before half-time when Pedri unleashed a curling strike into the top left corner after a nice pass from Dembele from the right touchline.
Lewandowski scored Barça’s third goal in the 65th minute with a spectacular backheel that knocked off a defender before beating goalkeeper Jordi Masip.
The Polish striker had the perfect opportunity to score a hat-trick in stoppage time, but Masip made a great stop to prevent a close-range shot.
But substitute Sergi Roberto was in the right place at the right time to hit back the rebound and score a point.
“It was a perfect match, but it’s far from perfect,” Barça coach Xavi Hernández told DAZN.
“We gave them too many chances at the end. We can’t afford to relax in this game.
“Even though they are 3-0, they have to keep pushing, but I’m happy. I can’t ask them to work harder.”
