Lamine Yamal scored Barcelona’s opening goal against Elche on Saturday, tormenting defenders throughout the match and spearheading La Liga leaders Barca’s 3-1 win. Yamal scored in the sixth minute, playing a pass to Marcus Rashford late in the second half to seal the win. Elche briefly equalized in the first half, but Ferran Torres re-established a 2-1 advantage just before half-time at the Marnes Valero Stadium.
Lamine Yamal tells Gabi how much FC Barcelona misses him on the pitch
Their goals increased Barcelona to four points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid before they face Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
It was Yamal’s third consecutive game in which he scored for Barcelona. The 18-year-old Spain star helped his team reach the round of 16 of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Real Oviedo last weekend and a 4-1 win over Copenhagen on Wednesday.
Elche caused a surprise this season by returning to the top flight with an attack-first mentality despite having a small squad. And coach Eder Sarabia, a former Barcelona assistant, did not hesitate to counter Barcelona’s firepower.
However, the home side were lucky to only be a one-goal lead by half-time after a rocky first half by the visiting team. Elche defender Victor Chus cleared shots from Rafinha and Torres on the line, and Dani Olmo and Torres hit the woodwork three times in total.
Yamal gave Barcelona an early lead when Olmo, starting for the injured Pedri for the third game in a row, collected the ball and fed a long pass into an open space where Elche’s left-back was out of position. Yamal completed the rest by dribbling past former Barcelona goalkeeper Iaki Pea and scoring his 13th goal of the season.
Elche striker Rubaro Rodrguez scored the equalizer against the run of play, beating goalkeeper João Garcia one-on-one after Germ Barrera set him up behind Barcelona’s high defensive line.
Barcelona counterattacked by attacking forward.
Torres’ volley hit the crossbar, hit the wooden frame in quick succession, bounced off the shoulder and bounced back to the post, while Yamal’s pass was wasted on the edge of the six-yard box when Fermun Lupez fired high.
Torres put Barcelona back on top in the 39th minute with an exquisite team passing move. The striker cleared Frenkie de Jong into the box and de Jong pulled a peasy and passed the ball back to Torres, who smashed it into the top of the goal.
Rashford came on for Rafinha at half-time, and in the 72nd minute Yamal bounced in at half-time to complete a pass that was touched by an Elche defender and the former Manchester United forward scored.
