Barcelona reclaimed top spot in La Liga with a 3-0 win over Real Oviedo on Sunday, thanks to goals from Dani Olmo, Raphinha and an acrobatic Lamine Yamal effort.
After Real Madrid beat Villarreal on Saturday to take pole position overnight, the Catalans edged a point ahead again.
Although Oviedo are bottom of the table with just two victories all season, Barca had to scrap for their victory as the visitors worked hard defensively to keep Hansi Flick’s team at bay until the second half.
Eventually the hosts’ quality told at the partially-reopened Camp Nou and after Olmo opened the scoring Barca never looked back.
The pick of the goals was Yamal’s strike, an impressive volley from Olmo’s cross to secure Barca’s triumph.
“I know we didn’t play on our highest level in the first half... but the team has done a fantastic job in the last few weeks, months,” Flick told DAZN.
The coach praised Yamal for his hard work in terms of pressing and also hailed his fine strike.
“It was great... I’m happy that he scored such a (good) goal, and the third goal for us was really important,” added Flick.
Barca struggled to make inroads in a dry first half and their passing was unusually imprecise.
Injured midfield maestro Pedri Gonzalez watched on from the stands with an unimpressed expression.
Oviedo sought to attack on the counter and Haissem Hassan drew a save from Joan Garcia from long distance.
At the other end, Aaron Escandell made a fine stop at his near post to thwart Raphinha before half-time.
Barca came out with renewed energy for the second half and soon took the lead.
After Yamal and Raphinha pressed in the box the ball broke loose to Olmo, who steered home.
Oviedo gave away a poor second goal after 57 minutes, with Raphinha running on to an undercooked back-pass from David Costas and lofting the ball over Escandell.
Barcelona’s third was expertly taken by Yamal, as Olmo’s cross was falling behind him he produced an eye-catching sideways scissor-kick to wrap up the victory.
A huge downpour hit the stadium, sending fans scurrying as there is no roof yet, and those who remained saw Escandell deny Robert Lewandowski a potential fourth with a fine save.
“I think we were not at our best in the first half, (but) in the second we could score the goals and that is the most important thing,” said Raphinha.
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