Levante 2-4 Barcelona: Yamal & Raphinha shine as Adeyemi seals the thriller

Game is over and the final score is Levante 2-4 Barcelona. Here is the match report.

Match Report

Lamine Yamal scored another brace as Barcelona held off a late Levante fightback for a fifth straight win at the start of the LaLiga season, triumphing 4-2.

Eight days on from his two-goal display at Valencia, Yamal produced another sterling showing in the same city, having also netted against Feyenoord in the Champions League on Wednesday.

But it was 19-year-old full-back Xavi Espart who made the breakthrough, scoring his first senior goal after five minutes. A one-touch move culminated in Raphinha offloading to the youngster, and his shot from the edge of the area squirmed into the bottom-left corner.

Raphinha also created Barca's second goal in the 19th minute, latching onto Fermin Lopez's throughball and rounding Mathew Ryan. Though the Brazilian was forced wide to the left, his cutback put the ball on a plate for Yamal, who could not miss.

Levante had twice as many shots as Barcelona in the first half (six to three), but Joan Garcia was never unduly troubled, and Hansi Flick's team had a third goal three minutes into the second period.

Aissa Mandi may have handled the ball while grounded in his own area, but in any case, he got up and bundled Yamal over, with the Ballon d'Or contender blasting the resulting spot-kick into the left side of the goal.

Raphinha and Ivan Romero passed up chances at either end, but the Levante substitute did inspire some late hope when Espart committed the error of passing loosely across his own box, rounding Garcia to slot into an unguarded net.

Home captain Roger Brugue teed up a grandstand finish when his bustling run resulted in Garcia blocking his initial shot, only to gift him a simple finish on the rebound, but Barca made the points safe when substitute Karim Adeyemi skipped infield from the left, beat Mandi with a clever feint, then stroked home.

Yamal's fast start follows in Messi's footsteps

Plenty of comparisons have been drawn between Yamal and Lionel Messi in the past, and his fast start to the season has replicated another feat achieved by the Argentina icon.

Yamal is only the second player to score two braces in his team's first five matches of a LaLiga season this century, with Messi netting three braces in five games at the start of 2012-13.

This was not a straightforward victory for the Blaugrana, who ended the game with 12 shots and 2.63 expected goals, comparable to Levante's figures of 13 attempts and 2.46 xG.

But even with a few defensive wobbles, Barca have won three straight away games against Levante for the first time in their LaLiga history. 

They did fall just short of scoring five goals in three consecutive games in the competition, though, something no team has accomplished since Athletic Club in 1959. 

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

0' Pre-match, Levante honours World Cup winners with shirt

0' Match paused for fan medical issue, then restarted

5' GOAL! Espart strikes, first Barcelona goal. Levante 1-0 Barcelona

11' Scramble near Levante box, Yamal breaks out and shoots, keeper gathers

15' Gerard Martin with a box error, nearly costs a goal

19' GOAL! Raphinha rounds keeper, cuts back, Yamal blasts in. Levante 2-0 Barcelona

29' Gerard Martin elbowed in face by Victor Garcia, bleeding heavily

36' Pedri dispossessed in box, Victor Garcia heads wide under pressure

42' Pedri receives Yamal through ball, falls in box, no call

46' Yellow Card! Gerard Martín booked

48' GOAL! Yamal wins pen, scores it: brace. Levante 3-0 Barcelona

55' Joan Garcia kick deflects off Rodri, Levante nearly score

61' Rodri loses pass, Levante counter, Christensen clears off line

65' Yamal and Pedri subbed off, Yamal looks disappointed

79' GOAL! Iván Romero punishes Barcelona error. Levante 1-3 Barcelona

83' Match Event for Levante vs Barcelona

88' GOAL! Levante 2-3 Barcelona (Roger Brugué)

92' GOAL! Levante 2-4 Barcelona

Line-ups

Levante XI: Mandi, Ryan, Toljan, Roger Brugué, De la Fuente, Víctor García, Jon Ander Olasagasti, Manu Sanchez, Petar Ratkov, Hugo Sotelo, Dani Requena

Subs: Oriol Rey, Enzo Bardeli, Iván Romero, Pablo Campos, Thiago Fernández, Jorge Cabello, Paco Cortés, Axel Tape, Yanis Musuayi, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Nacho Pérez, Marc Santos

Barcelona XI: Rodri, Raphinha, Eric Garcia, Gordon, Pedri, Joan García, Fermín López, Yamal, Gerard Martín, Cubarsi, Xavi Espart

Subs: Szczesny, Cancelo, Christensen, D. Livaković, Jesus, Olmo, Kounde, Adeyemi, Balde, Gavi, Bernal, Hamza Abdelkarim