The Catalans opened the game furiously, already in the sixth minute they took the lead. Dani Olmo sent a beautiful ball into the area, Lamine Yamal bypassed the opponent’s goalkeeper and calmly put the ball into the net.
Barca continued to threaten, but the ball never went into the net. Dani Olmo was very close to scoring in the 28th minute, but his shot from the edge of the penalty area hit the crossbar.
The penalty came just a minute later. Former Real Madrid player Alvaro Rodriguez avoided the offside trap, broke into a one-on-one situation with Joan Garcia and fired into the bottom right corner.
Just three minutes later Barca had a huge chance, but Ferran Torres managed to miss the impossible. The ball bounced off him perfectly in front of the goal, and the former Manchester City player hit the crossbar from close range, and then the ball bounced off him into the post.
Ferran managed to find a way to the net in the 40th minute. Then he put the ball away for Frenkie de Jong, who went past goalkeeper Inaki Pena, tricked the Elche defenders with a fake and left a rebound, and Ferran scored this time with a powerful shot.
In the third minute of injury time of the first half, Ferran was again in the center of attention. He bypassed his former teammate Pena and shot at the goal, but Victor Chust blocked it with a great sliding start.
Elche fans rejoiced briefly in the 51st minute. Then Rodrigo Mendoza scored, but he was in an illegal position, so the goal was disallowed.
Barca solved the question of the winner in the 72nd minute. Lamine Yamal managed to receive a difficult ball and keep it in the game, he passed on the right side and crossed, and Marcus Rashford found himself in the right place and scored for the final 1:3.
Elche came close to scoring in the 91st minute, but Victor Chust’s header was brilliantly saved by Joan Garcia.
Barca now has 55 points in La Liga, which is four more than first-placed Real Madrid. On Sunday, the Kings will welcome Rayo Vallecano to the Santiago Bernabeu (2 p.m., Arena3 Premium).
As for Elche, they currently hold the 12th position in LaLiga with 24 points won, in the next round they are visiting Real Sociedad.
(Vijesti.ba)
