The strike of the second half of Robert Lewandowski helped Barcelona beat Alaves 1-0 on Sunday to reduce the gap in the League leaders, Real Madrid to four points. The Catalans, third parties, capitalized with a close victory after the champions slipped around the city in Espanyol on Saturday. Atlético second place on the path of Barcelona by three points before the rojiblancos face Real Madrid in a tasty derby clash next weekend, which could allow Hansi Flick’s side not to commit more land.
Lewandowski scored from a cross of Lamine Yamal to resolve a hard game in which Alaves greatly frustrated the hosts.
“Before the game we knew we had to win,” Lewandowski told Movistar. “For us it is a time when we have fewer points than Atlético and Real Madrid, (but) it is important that we win and then we can think of its points.
“We have to play well, win and then we can look at the league table and see how many points we have exactly.”
Flick’s team struggled to start in the sunlight early in the afternoon at the Olympic stadium.
The Catalans created just nothing notable in the first half, since Alaves thirdly resisted.
A Dribble Mazy Lamine Yamal excited the fans of the house, but there was little else to raise the pulse.
Gavi and Tomas Conechny were removed after a ugly head of heads.
– ‘Patience’ pays –
Lewandowski scratched a narrow shot and a low Pedri effort was comfortably stunned by Alaves goalkeeper Jesús Owono.
Flick brought Frenkie de Jong and Eric García in the half time to try to accelerate the Barcelona game in possession and the team looked more acute as a result.
Lewandowski sent a header looking agonizingly wide from the distant post shortly before the dead point broke.
The Polish veteran produced a furtive hunter finish from a short distance after Yamal sent a cross shot to him in the back post after 61 minutes.
It was the number 18 of the Lewandowski League campaign, extending its advantage in Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid as the top scorer of the division to three.
“A game like today is very important,” said Lewandowski.
“We cannot always win with four, five or six goals, sometimes teams like this appear deeply and well, but we have a chance if we play patience, and in the end we score a goal more than them, so they are very Happy. “
Owono moved away the effort of his substitute for Barça Ferran Torres was far away from Owono to the entire stretch while the Catalans tried to make the game safe.
Flick’s team could not produce a second, but Alaves, who barely threatened the goal of Wojciech Szczesny at all times, could not return.
Later, on Sunday, Athletic Bilbao visits Real Betis among other games.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a union feed).
Topics mentioned in this article
By
