Lamine bags brace as free-scoring Barca restore three-point cushion at LaLiga summit

[p]Boasting a staggering 22 goals in their last five matches in all competitions, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] approached this game full of confidence, [b]and so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when the visitors took the lead after only five minutes thanks to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/espart-xavi/WKtYvkb7/"]Xavi Espart[/a]’s finish into the bottom-left corner. [/b][/p][p]The hosts reacted well to this early setback and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-pons-joan/vuAlEqes/"]Joan Garcia[/a] was called into action around the quarter-hour mark to prevent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brugue-roger/pWvRJqSt/"]Roger Brugue[/a]’s 12-yard strike from levelling the contest.[/p][p][b]Hansi Flick’s side were in a ruthless mood, though, and they doubled their advantage after 19 minutes. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raphinha/xtBsDPam/"]Raphinha[/a] did well to round [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ryan-mathew/YBLvziIh/"]Mathew Ryan[/a] before passing the ball in composed fashion from an acute angle for the incoming [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lamine-yamal/lAt3vEub/"]Lamine Yamal[/a] to slot home and net his fifth LaLiga goal of the season.[/b][/p][embed guid="c3709f0c-219b-42c6-bbf8-c6e22d41c5f5" url="https://x.com/FCBarcelona/status/2099146562634989786" social-type="twitter" /][p]To [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/levante/G8FL0ShI/"]Levante[/a]’s credit, the home side continued to go toe-to-toe with their opponents and a defensive error from Barca almost led to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/garcia-victor/SQi6oCZp/"]Victor Garcia[/a] halving the deficit before the interval.[/p][p]Any hope from Levante supporters of a second-half comeback appeared to be extinguished very early on after the restart, as Lamine Yamal was brought down inside the box resulting in a penalty.[/p][p][b]The Spaniard stepped up to take the spot-kick himself and converted his effort in confident fashion to extend the visitors’ lead. [/b][/p][p]With two assists already to his name in the match, Raphinha came agonisingly close to adding a goal to his contributions with a strike that rolled inches wide of the target just before the hour mark.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="111cfc3d-f214-4acc-ae06-91cd3d92e2ea" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="86c3a4b9-2581-48af-bd0e-3743fa847a1a" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Luis Castro’s team battled on as the second half progressed, and really should have scored through substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/romero-ivan/lbxUqXq3/"]Ivan Romero[/a], but his close-range shot was somehow blocked just in front of the goal line by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/christensen-andreas/ShxiZhJI/"]Andreas Christensen[/a]. Only a minute later, Romero had another strike which was saved well by Joan Garcia at his near post.[/p][p][b]Romero would eventually get his goal after 79 minutes, as he capitalised on some poor Barca defending to grab a lifeline for Levante. [/b][/p][p][b]Remarkably, Levante scored again with full-time on the horizon, after Brugue capped off a brilliant solo run with a finish into the back of the net. [/b][/p][p][b]Barcelona were suddenly under severe pressure, but killed the game off in stoppage time thanks to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/adeyemi-karim/GvIzwgo8/"]Karim Adeyemi[/a]’s goal on the counter-attack.[/b][/p][p]Barcelona remain top of LaLiga after this latest victory and sit three points clear of second-placed Real Madrid. They will aim for a sixth successive league win on Wednesday when they host Racing de Santander. Meanwhile, Levante stay 13th and face Athletic Bilbao at home in LaLiga, also on Wednesday.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lamine-yamal/lAt3vEub/"]Lamine Yamal[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a])[/b][/p][image alt="Lamine Yamal's performance" id="6c44f7e5-64d4-4ceb-93fb-98d0336a56ad" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="e1c5d83d-523b-4b9d-adfc-ee8aff267fdc" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/barcelona-SKbpVP5K/levante-G8FL0ShI/summary/stats/?mid=fa2Bd8Ht"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]