La Liga: Lewandowski at the double for Barcelona; Benzema saves Real Madrid
Robert Lewandowski scored his second consecutive brace as Barcelona breezed past Real Valladolid with a comfortable 4-0 LaLiga victory on Sunday.
It was Barca’s second win from three games in the new season and moved them up to second in the table with seven points, two behind leaders Real Betis and provisionally one ahead of Real Madrid, who face Espanyol later on Sunday.
After enduring a frustrating goalless draw in their opening game of the season against lowly Rayo Vallecano, Barcelona enjoyed a confidence-boosting 4-1 win over Real Sociedad last week, in which Lewandowski got off the mark for the campaign with two goals.
Against Valladolid they maintained the momentum and were finally able to deploy French defender Jules Kounde, who missed the first two games of the season with Barca unable to register him as a player as they struggled to comply with La Liga’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Kounde played from the start on Sunday and had a solid showing, as Barca dominated the game and never gave Valladolid a chance.
Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele both went close for Barca, hitting the post in the first half, but it did not take long for them to open the scoring, as Lewandowski stroked home from close range from a perfect Raphinha cross to the far post in the 24th minute.
Barcelona extended their lead right before halftime through Pedri, who riffled a curling strike into the top-left corner after a nice pass by Dembele from the right touchline.
Lewandowski scored Barca’s third in the 65th minute, with a brilliant back-heel that deflected off a defender before beating goalkeeper Jordi Masip.
The Poland striker had a golden opportunity to complete a hat-trick in added time, but Masip made a great stop to keep out his close range shot.
Substitute Sergi Roberto, however, was in the right place at the right time to strike home the rebound and wrap up the points.
Karim Benzema scored two late goals to extend Real Madrid’s 100% winning record as Los Blancos edged past Espanyol 3-1 on Sunday night at the RCDE Stadium.
Vinicius Junior scored his second goal of the season to give Carlo Ancelotti’s side the lead, but Joselu restored parity two minutes before half-time
It looked like the visitors would have to settle for a point until Benzema popped up with just two minutes remaining to poke home Rodrygo’s back post cross before settling it with a superb free-kick 10 minutes into added-time.
The victory means Real Madrid climb back to the top of La Liga with three wins from three.
