Party Night! Barcelona 5-0 Betis: Joãos score debut goals & Ferran nets freekick

Barcelona moved top of LaLiga as they thumped Real Betis 5-0 with goals from new signings Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.

Match Report

The club brought in Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo on deadline day and they got the party started to combine for the first goal after 25 minutes. Cancelo won the ball up and Ferran Torres nudged it to Oriol Romeu, another of the new recruits. His crossed reached Felix and in three touches he had it in the back of the net for his first goal for his new club.

The first touch on the volley was goalwards and when the ball spun off his right foot within reach of Rui Silva he stretched and got a second touch to toe it away from the Betis keeper, that left it spinning free but at an almost impossible angle and that is when the third touch came – drilling the ball into the far corner.

You could see all the pent up rage come out in his celebration. It was quite some day for the player on loan from Atletico Madrid – they had lost 3-0 early in the day and now he had reminded everyone what he is capable of.

He was involved in the second goal too even though he never touched the ball. Andreas Christensen played the ball through and it was Felix clever leave, allowing the ball to go through his legs which meant it ran to Robert Lewandowski who finished well to make it 2-0.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved brilliantly from Willian Jose just before the break after Isco’s clever pass but that was all the news there was from Betis in a one-sided game.

Cancelo was starring for Barcelona and looks like a gift from Manchester City on loan until the end of the season. And it was another player with a Manchester City link that got the third. Barcelona had not scored direct from a free-kick since Lionel Messi left but up stepped the former City man and bent a brilliant set-piece around the Betis wall and past Francisco Vieites who had replaced the injured Silva at half time. It was Barça’s first goal from a free-kick since May 2021.

There was still more damage to be inflicted on Manuel Pellegrini’s team. Raphinha, Lamal Yamine, and Ilkay Gundogan had come off of Barcelona’s talent-packed bench and it was the Brazilian who scored from distance to make it five and and when Cancello cut in from the right turning Miranda inside out several times before drilling in the fifth it completed one of Barcelona’s most impressive performances for a long time – and a win that sends them to the top of La Liga ahead of Real Madrid’s meeting with Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

8' Cancelo fires his shot into the sky

20' CLOSE! Luiz Henrique’s shot wide out

25' GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Betis (Felix)

32' GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Betis (Lewandowski)

47' What a save from Ter Stegen!

60' Disallowed!  Félix scores but the goal is offside

62' GOAL! Barcelona 3-0 Betis (Ferran Torres)

66' GOAL! Barcelona 4-0 Betis (Raphinha)

72' Yellow Card! Bartra booked

77' CLOSE! Abde’s shot wide out

81' GOAL! Barcelona 5-0 Betis (Cancelo)

Line-ups

Barcelona XI: Lewandowski, Romeu, Ter Stegen, Cancelo, Christensen, De Jong, Ferran Torres, Kounde, Felix, Álex Baldé, Gavi

Subs: Gundogan, Roberto, Alonso, I. Martinez, Pena, Raphinha, Marc Casadó, Ander Astralaga, Lamine Yamal, Unai Hernández

Betis XI: W.José, Isco, Bartra, Bellerin, Rui Silva, Ayoze Perez, Roca, Juan Miranda, Luiz Henrique, Sergi Altimira, Chadi Riad

Subs: Pezzella, Iglesias, G. Rodriguez, Fran Vieites, Juan Cruz, Rodri Sánchez, Abde Ezzalzouli, Guilherme Fernandes, Quique Fernández, Abner, Assane Diao, Pablo Busto