La Liga giants FC Barcelona have overtaken Mallorca in a closely contested La Liga match. The goal of the Polish striker Lewandowski served as decisive.
German goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegan kept his sixth clean sheet in the league and once again put in a great performance. He also went his fifth consecutive league game without conceding a goal and it looks like he’s finally got his form back after a horrible last season.
Barcelona came into the game with five straight wins by a wide margin and were up against a stubborn Mallorca at the Estadi de Son Moix.
Barcelona previously lost three of their main defenders Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde and Héctor Bellerin to injuries. Midfielder Frenkie De Jong and forward Memphis Depay were also out with injuries. So Xavi decided to field a team with a lot of turnover. Young left-back Alejandro Balde had to play in the right-back position as there weren’t many options available. However, despite all this, Barça managed to keep a tight defense.
Lewandowski’s goal gave Barcelona three more points
The match started slowly and both teams were struggling to create chances. Finally though, during the 20th minute of the match, Polish striker Robert Lewandowski received the ball from Ansu Fati and curved in a brilliant effort. This was Lewandowski’s ninth goal of the season and the striker has already become one of the best players in the division.
This was also the first start for 19-year-old Ansu Fati since last November. The Spain international, who has yet to reach his best form since injury, had his third assist of the season.
After the goal, Barcelona struggled to create more chances while Mallorca maintained solid defensive form. The hosts had their first chance in the 35th minute. But Jaume Costa’s close shot was well saved by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegan.
Before long, Barcelona’s central defender pair, Gerrard Piqué and Andreas Christiansen, received yellow cards. Midfielder Franck Kessie soon joined them. And then Barcelona’s assistant coach Óscar Hernández received a red card for dissenting.
There were no more goals in the first as Barcelona took a 1-0 lead back to the locker room. After the break, Lewandowski almost caught the Mallorca goalkeeper Rajkovic. Meanwhile, on the other side, ter Stegan deflected Antonio Sánchez’s shot.
Xavi then brought in his young prodigy Pedri to take control of the game. The Spanish international soon stamped his authority on the game and Barça managed to control the pace in the final minutes.
Barcelona managed to hold on and added 3 very important points. With this victory, Xavi showed that his team is ready to reap results even on difficult days.
Barcelona will now play Inter Milan in their next outing.
