Barcelona 3-0 Real Oviedo: Hansi Flick’s side restored to the top of the table, plus Yamal’s excellent strike
This was the sort of game that Barcelona would be expected to win any time, any day, what with Real Oviedo stuck at the bottom of La Liga in their first season back to the top flight.
But it’s also the sort of game that would immediately spark talk of a crisis if results were to go awry, particularly with Real Madrid having temporarily returned to the table with their win over Villareal on Saturday, and Barcelona needing a victory to return things to the status quo.
So it was something of a relief for the home side when Oviedo, their own worst enemy, committed two second-half errors to hand Barcelona two goals in the space of five minutes, Dani Olmo and Raphinha accepting the gift with both hands, before Lamine Yamal’s beautiful bicycle kick sealed the victory in the later stages.
Hansi Flick’s side started poorly and overall did not have a good first half. Two things are possible: either the first period went exactly how Oviedo wanted it to, the Asturian side executing their game plan well enough, or Barcelona played right into their hands.
But for the first 45 minutes the game was flat and slow, an ugly thing constantly truncated by fouls, or throw-ins, or offsides, or goalkicks. Barcelona did not have a shot on target until late in the half, Raphinha hitting a volley from a cross that goalkeeper Aaron Escandell saved.
Oviedo offered nothing, Ilyas Chaira’s low shot from distance that went narrowly wide of the left-hand post their only real effort.
In the second half, the visitors made a perplexing switch. Their gameplan having worked out so well, the best means of self-sabotage was to play Barcelona’s, and they got caught out twice before the hour.
First Kwasi Sibo, pressed by Yamal, could only send the ball to Olmo, who clinically dispatched the chance. Then David Costas, under pressure from Raphinha, scuffed an attempted back pass and the Brazilian jumped ahead and lifted the ball delicately beyond Escandell.
By then the game was clearly over and only the motions remained, as the rain and sleet started to descend heavily on the players and crowd.
But Yamal still had time to excite the Camp Nou faithful. As Olmo’s tentative cross went slightly behind him, the teenager turned and struck the ball with a superb bicycle kick, sending it flying past Escandell and nestling into the bottom corner.
He raised his hand in acknowledgement of the cheers, and as he was substituted off moments later, exited the pitch to a standing ovation, the rain washing over him.
