November 02, (THEWILL) — Barcelona closed the gap on LaLiga leaders Real Madrid with a 3-1 victory over Elche at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. The win came after Madrid had temporarily moved eight points clear following their convincing triumph against Valencia the previous day.
Lamine Yamal opened the scoring after nine minutes, finishing into the bottom-left corner following good work from Alejandro Balde down the left flank. Ferran Torres doubled the advantage just two minutes later, converting Fermin Lopez’s delivery after another Elche mistake in defence. Rafa Mir pulled one back for the visitors two minutes before half-time, running clear of the Barcelona backline before curling beyond Wojciech Szczesny.
Elche threatened an equaliser throughout the second period, with Mir hitting the crossbar nine minutes after the restart and later striking the right post. However, Marcus Rashford sealed the points for Hansi Flick’s side just after the hour mark, smashing home from close range with his effort hitting the underside of the bar before crossing the line.
Mir continued to trouble Barcelona, following his post-strike with a tame effort straight at Szczesny. Inaki Pena, currently on loan at Elche from Barcelona, had earlier denied Torres brilliantly in first-half stoppage time with the scoreline at 2-1.
Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo both returned from injury spells during the second half, though Barcelona could not add a fourth goal. The three points kept Flick’s side within touching distance of Real Madrid in the early title race.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
