Lamine Yamal Finds Form After Breakup, Leads Barcelona to 3-1 Win Over Elche
Lamine Yamal was almost unrecognizable. He had been a shadow of the sharp player he was last season, having gone a long time without scoring in La Liga. At the same time, when his romance with Argentine singer Nicki Nicole was in full swing, fans directed their frustration toward the relationship. However, the announcement of their breakup came just one day ago. In the very next match, Yamal returned to his true form and ended a long scoring drought. Barcelona defeated Elche 3-1.
Yamal’s last goal in La Liga was back in August. However, there is a catch: he missed four matches in September and October due to injury. But even in the four matches he did play, his performance was subdued.
He had returned from a groin injury against Real Madrid last week, where he looked like a shadow of himself. The news of his breakup had fans worried about a potential negative impact on his performance.
Instead, the effect was ‘positive.’ Against Elche, he was in rhythm from the start, taking only nine minutes to score. In the ninth minute, Alejandro Balde advanced with the ball and passed it to Yamal. Yamal controlled the ball and sent a precise shot past former Barça goalkeeper Iñaki Peña and into the net.
Just three minutes later, Ferran Torres scored. Fermín López made a great run down the left and delivered a perfect cross, which Torres easily converted. During his goal celebration, Torres displayed a message on his t-shirt in memory of Valencia, whose eastern coast was devastated by severe flooding last year.
Shots from Fermín López and Rashford narrowly missed, and another shot by Torres was saved by Iñaki Peña.
Just before halftime, Rafa Mir pulled one goal back for Elche. He was not ruled offside because he was in his own half when he received the ball. Mir’s curling shot grazed Barça defender Ronald Araújo and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny before hitting the post and going into the net.
At the start of the second half, another shot from Mir hit the crossbar and rebounded. But Rashford restored Barcelona’s lead. He scored with a superb strike from a perfect cross delivered by Fermín López. This was his second goal of the current league season.
Towards the end, Szczęsny saved Barcelona again, deflecting a powerful shot from Rafa Mir onto the post. Barcelona breathed a sigh of relief, leaving the field with a 3-1 victory.
With this win, Barcelona stands in second place with 22 points, five points behind league leaders Real Madrid.
