Barcelona achieved an expected 3:1 success in their away game against Elche in the 22nd round of La Liga, sportal.bg reported.
The Catalans played a strong match in which they could easily have scored many more goals if it weren't for the many misses of their players during the match, with the posts helping Inaki Peña several times. Lamine Yamal opened the scoring in the 6th minute, but the hosts equalized in the 29th through Alvaro Rodriguez. After that, however, "blaugranas" They achieved success thanks to precise shots by Ferran Torres in the 40th minute and Marcus Rashford in the 72nd minute.
The hosts started with Andresinho and Alvaro Rodriguez in attack, while Herman Valera and Grady Diangana operated on both wings. Marc Aguado and Rodrigo Mendoza were the supporting midfielders.
Hansi Flick had chosen to start the match with Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Rafinha in forward positions. Frenkie de Jong, Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez partnered in midfield.
Barça started the match with a bang and created the first goal opportunity in the 2nd minute. Fermin Lopez crossed from the right and Lamine Yamal was inches away from scoring.
Two minutes later, Rafinha saw that Iñaki Peña had left his goal and tried to cross it almost from the center, but the goalkeeper returned in time and caught it.
The opening goal came in the 6th minute. Dani Olmo cut through the opponent's defense with a wonderful pass and brought Lamine Yamal face to face with the goalkeeper, he feinted and scored for 0:1.
In the 16th minute, the Catalans organized another attack at speed, this time Balde advanced from the left and passed to Dani Olmo in the penalty area, but his shot did not work and went wide.
Two minutes later, Ferran Torres also cleared space and shot on the ground, but he also missed the target.
In the 20th minute, the hosts claimed a penalty for a foul by Pau Kubarsi against Alvaro Rodriguez, but the referee ignored the situation.
In the 23rd minute, Alvaro Rodriguez was taken into the penalty area and collapsed after being held by Alejandro Balde, which prevented him from taking an accurate shot. Even in this situation, however, the referee did not point to the penalty spot.
The hosts continued to act more and more boldly and in the 25th minute Rodrigo Mendoza shot quite dangerously from distance, but he also did not find the goal.
However, Barça came close to doubling the score in the 28th minute, when Dani Olmo's shot bounced off the crossbar.
Seconds later, however, Elche equalized. Alvaro Rodriguez received a pass behind the defense, advanced and coolly converted for 1:1.
Barcelona could have regained the lead in the 33rd minute, when Ferran Torres received a pass near the goal, but made an incredible miss, first hitting the crossbar, and when trying to add, he played the ball with his shoulder and hit the right side post.
In the 39th minute, a diagonal shot by Lamine Yamal was saved by Iñaki Peña.
A minute later, Barca still regained the lead, and Ferran Torres avenged the previous misses. Frenkie de Jong was brought into the penalty area, feinted the goalkeeper, but closed the angle for a shot. However, he held the ball and saw Ferran Torres' inclusion, returned to the penalty spot, where the striker sent the ball into the goal with a powerful shot for 1:2.
In the 43rd minute, the guests organized another great attack. Fermin Lopez received a wonderful cross meters from the goal, but somehow he sent the ball over the crossbar.
Seconds later, Rafinha advanced at speed and shot on the ground, the ball "licking" right post.
In the 45th minute, Fermin Lopez made another big mistake after receiving a pass in the penalty area, but shot over the goal.
In added time, Ferran Torres wasted another good chance after being brought out at speed, overcame the goalkeeper, but his shot was not strong enough and allowed a defender to return and clear in front of the goal line.
The hosts started the second half strongly and in the 50th minute, Alvaro Rodriguez was close to scoring, but his shot "licked" left post.
Two minutes later, Rodrigo Mendoza sent the ball into Joan Garcia's goal, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
In the 63rd minute, Martin Neto passed several Barça players and passed to Adam Boyar, who, however, ruined his efforts with a very inaccurate shot.
Barça did not get their first chance of the second half until the 64th minute, when Fermin Lopez jumped into a shooting position in the penalty area, but his shot was blocked by Iñaki Peña.
Another unforgivable miss for the visitors was by Marcus Rashford, who was brought behind the defense, but remained face to face with the goalkeeper and shot wide.
The Englishman got his revenge in the 72nd minute. Lamine Yamal managed to keep the ball out of touch, advanced down the right flank and crossed sharply in front of the goal, where a defender tried to intervene, but only gave the ball to Marcus Rashford, who sent it into the goal from close range for 1:3.
In the 82nd minute, Joan Garcia had to intervene decisively after a dangerous ground kick by Luis Cepeda.
In the 90th minute, Adam Boyar also tested Garcia's reflexes with a header from close range, but the goalkeeper was again in place and caught it.
In the end, Barcelona left this away game with a well-deserved victory, collecting 55 points and thus increasing the gap over their pursuer Real Madrid to 4 points. Elche remains in 12th position with 24 points.