The Catalans maintain their third spot on the La Liga table with a hard-fought victory.
Barcelona defeated Alaves 2-1 in their La Liga game on Sunday. A second-half comeback ensured Barca’s win on home soil.
What happened?
Alaves stunned the hosts with an instant opener as Samu Omorodion found the back of the net only 17 seconds into the match.
Samu went on to torment Barca’s defence throughout the first period with his fast runs. But Alaves couldn’t extend their one-goal lead despite making a number of dangerous counter-attacks.
Barcelona remained in charge of the possession but had to wait until the 53rd minute to score the equalizer. Robert Lewandowski smashed Jules Kounde’s searching cross into the corner of the net with a stunning header to get Barca back into the game.
The Catalans then doubled down on their attacking pressure as Alaves’ counter-attacks ran out of steam. The visitors, however, failed to escape defeat as Barcelona finally managed to snatch the match-winner in the 78th minute.
Lewandowski completed his brace by converting a penalty to win the game for the Catalans.
The Polish striker ended his run of six goalless matches as Barcelona remained third on the La Liga table.
Player Ratings
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (6), Araujo (7), Kounde (6), I. Martinez (7), Cancelo (8), Gundogan (8), Pedri (7), Yamal (7), Lopez (6), Felix (7), Lewandowski (8).
Bench: Raphinha (6), Balde (6), Torres (7), Romeu (5).
Alaves: Sivera (7), Gorosabel (6), Abqar (4), Rafa Marin (4), Duarte (6), J. Lopez (7), Guevara (6), Blanco (6), Guridi (6), Rioja (5), Omorodion (6).
Bench: Rebbach (6), Hagi (6), Garcia (6), Tenaglia (-), Mendes (5).