Yamal atones for bad miss with classy goal as La Liga leader Barcelona beats Mallorca 3-0
Teenage star Lamine Yamal made up for missing an open goal with a trademark curler from outside the penalty area as Barcelona beat Mallorca 3-0 to move four points ahead at the top of La Liga. Robert Lewandowski had put Barcelona ahead and 18-year-old homegrown player Marc Bernal scored his first career goal late on to seal a convincing win. Yamal and Lewandowski have scored 10 league goals each this season. Second-place Real Madrid can close the gap to one point if it wins at Valencia on Sunday.
Lewandowski pounced from close range in the 29th minute following good work down the left from Marcus Rashford. His shot was blocked and Lewandowski showed typically cool composure to control the ball and guide it past a defender before picking his spot. Rashford’s form has improved throughout the season and he came close to scoring in first-half injury time when his curling free kick produced a brilliant save from Leo Roman.
The ball fell to right back Jules Kounde near the penalty spot and his scuffed shot landed at the feet of Yamal, who somehow skewered wide from almost on the goal line. The 18-year-old prodigy was given a pat on the back by Lewandowski, who is one of the modern era’s most prolific scorers with over 650 club goals — including 344 with his former club Bayern Munich and more than 100 for Barca.
Yamal showed his class in the 61st minute with a brilliant strike, ghosting past one defender on the edge of the area and then planting a powerful dipping shot into the bottom corner, a strike hit so cleanly with his left foot that Roman did not even move.
Yamal and Lewandowski were replaced and both applauded Bernal’s excellent goal in the 83rd. Barca sliced Mallorca open in midfield with four quick passes to send Bernal racing through, and he showed good composure to cut inside a defender and stroke the ball inside the post. In Saturday’s only other game, Real Sociedad beat Elche 3-1 to move into eighth place.
Goals from Croatia midfielder Luka Sucic and Spain forward Mikel Oyarzabal put Sociedad 2-0 up, only for Portugal striker Andre Silva to pull one back close to halftime. Iceland captain Orri Stein Oskarsson replaced Oyarzabal near the end and netted his side’s third goal in the 89th. Matches postponedTwo matches were called off. Rayo Vallecano’s home match against Oviedo was postponed at short notice because of safety concerns over the field at Vallecas Stadium.
The league also called off Sevilla vs. Girona due to adverse weather conditions. While Oviedo said it understood the decision, the team criticized the short notice and was considering legal action. Cutting tiesBarcelona became the latest club to cut ties with a proposed breakaway European Super League. It had previously led the fight to get a rival competition to the Champions League off the ground. But, in a short statement on Saturday, Barcelona said it would no longer be part of the contentious project.
