Yamal Responds To Mbappe In Barca’s 6-Goal…

Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images

After Kylian Mbappe netted twice on for Real Madrid on Saturday, Lamine Yamal responded with two goals of his own as FC Barcelona defeated Levante in a six-goal thriller.

LALIGA
Teams: Levante v FC Barcelona
Result: 2-4
Scorers: Romero (79′), Brugue (88′) / Espart (5′), Yamal (19′, 48′), Adeyemi (90+2′)

It became uphill for the Granotes who trailed five minutes in when a slick passing move around the area released Xavi Espart to get a yard inside before firing past the diving goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.

The Levante shot-stopper was breached in the 19th minute when Raphinha beat him to a high-ball to get in on the byline and cutback for Yamal, who rifled into an empty.

Levante looked for a way back after an underwhelming start and nearly pulled a goal back just before the break with a chance at the far post by Manu Sanchez following a loss of possession by Pedri, but the defender fluffed his lines.

The defending champions came out for the second half and rolled out a substitution with former Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen introduced ahead of Gerard Martin.

Barcelona pulled further clear of their adversaries two minutes after the resumption as Yamal tucked in from the penalty spot after he got down from a challenge by Aissa Mandi in the area, completing his brace in the process.

Granotes were nearly gifted a route back following a tenth-minute spell when Rodri lost possession in a dangerous area and allowed Victor Garcia to come inside and square the ball for Ivan Romero to tap in, but superb last-ditch defending saw his shot cleared off the line.

Romero remained problematic for the champions with ten minutes to go and capitalised on a sloppy back-pass from Espart get a yard on Joan Garcia to slot into an empty net.

Barcelona’s lead came under further threat in the final minute of regulation time after Roger Brugue escaped a host of challengers to burst through to the area from out wide and fired in the near post.

However, the Blaugrana erased the late tension to put the clash to bed when Karim Adeyemi grabbed possession on the far side to run clear on goal and picked out the bottom-corner to seal their fifth straight league win.

Next Five Matches:

Levante: Athletic Bilbao (H), Villarreal (A), Sevilla (H), Deportivo (A), Real Sociedad

Barcelona: Racing Santander (A), Sevilla (A), Getafe (H), Galatasaray (A), Real Betis (A)

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