BARCELONA: Striker Robert Lewandowski smashed home a rebound to earn Barcelona a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in an absorbing La Liga clash on Saturday.

A deflected strike by teenager Lamine Yamal in the 24th minute gave Barca the lead. The visitors levelled in the 42nd minute when Oihan Sancet converted a penalty after defender Pau Cubarsi fouled Alex Berenguer inside the box.

Lewandowski netted the winner in the 75th minute from a rebound by the goalkeeper to give Barca their second win in as many games.

“Especially in the first half he could have scored one or two goals… but in the end this is a goal getter, a striker, who scores goals,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick told reporters. “The second goal was the winner, three points, perfect.”

Barcelona are level with Celta Vigo at the top of the La Liga standings on six points. Athletic are 15th with one point from two matches.

Although the Catalonia giants dominated possession, Athletic were always a threat on the break with brothers Inaki and Nico Williams a constant menace, forcing Marc-Andre ter Stegen into several top-class saves.

Still missing key players like Gavi, Ronald Araujo and Frenkie De Jong due to injury and new signing Dani Olmo yet to be registered, Flick relied on the superb form of his forwards Lewandowski, Yamal and Raphinha.

Brazilian Raphinha stood out again playing as an attacking midfielder, creating several chances and feeding his team-mates with precise passing.

“You always suffer when you come here, you know they will take the initiative,” said Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde. “In the second half they were stronger in pressing after losing the ball and they didn’t let us get out, I think that was the key.

In Saturday’s later matches, newly-promoted Espanyol still weren’t able to a register a win as they lost against Real Sociedad 1-0 while Getafe and Rayo Vellecano played out a 0-0 draw.

Earlier, Villarreal downed Sevilla 2-1 to move to third position in the standings ahead of Osasuna who edged Mallorca 1-0.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2024