Yamal scores twice as Barca beats Levante 4-2

Lamine Yamal scored two goals to help Barcelona win 4-2 against Levante on Sunday in La Liga. This win means Barcelona continues their perfect start to the season.

Hansi Flick’s team now leads Real Madrid by three points at the top of the table, after Real Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Xavi Espart was the first to score for Barcelona in Valencia. Yamal scored the second goal and then netted a penalty early in the second half.

Even though Barcelona has won all five of their games so far, their defense showed weaknesses. Ivan Romero and Roger Brugue brought Levante back into the game late on.

Karim Adeyemi, who came on as a substitute, secured the win for Barcelona in stoppage time. He made a brilliant solo run and beat Mathew Ryan.

“It was not our best game of course. We had a great start. In the second half we struggled a little bit,” Flick said to reporters.

“We have to fight to improve. It’s normal, we have situations we have to make better, much better. We’ll tell the team and move on to the next match, but I’m happy with the result.”

Barcelona defender Eric Garcia said the team relaxed too much in the second half and it almost cost them.

“It was a hard game. We made it harder for ourselves than it needed to be,” Garcia told Movistar.

“But it has to teach us something. If you give any opponent a bit of breathing room, they get on top of you.”

Barcelona started strong at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium, where Levante had not lost in eight matches.

The visitors took the lead just five minutes into the game. Levante hardly touched the ball before Espart scored.

Barcelona easily cut through Levante’s defense. The 19-year-old finished from the edge of the box with a slight deflection helping.

This was Espart’s first goal for Barcelona. He was brought into the first team this season by Flick and has been playing at left-back.

Levante responded with some pressure, but Barcelona was lucky to keep their lead.

Petar Ratkov was in a good position but could not get a proper shot away. Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia made a good save from Brugue.

Levante would soon regret missing those chances when Raphinha set up Yamal for Barcelona’s second goal.

The Brazilian rounded goalkeeper Ryan and passed to Yamal, who scored into an empty net in the 19th minute.

With the afternoon heat and some heavy tackles, the pace of the game slowed down a bit.

Yamal scored his second goal soon after the break. He won a penalty and converted it.

The Spain winger was brought down by Aissa Mandi and scored the resulting kick past Ryan. This was his seventh goal in four games across all competitions.

Levante could have pulled one back, but Andreas Christensen cleared Romero’s bobbling shot off the line.

Romero did score when Espart gave the ball away with a loose pass towards Christensen. Romero took advantage and struck.

Levante fans cheered when Brugue scored, taking advantage of a Marc Bernal error. Garcia saved Brugue’s first shot, but the striker managed to score from the rebound.

But former Borussia Dortmund winger Adeyemi ended Levante’s hopes for a point. He made a strong run through the defense and finished coolly.

Barcelona will play against promoted side Racing Santander on Wednesday, while Levante will host Athletic Bilbao.