Barca cruising past 10-man Betis

Barca are not going to let this La Liga title slip through their fingers. The 'Cules' hosted Betis with the pressure on as Madrid had closed the gap to eight points after beating Almeria but the Catalan giants were not nervous.

Xavi's team went into the break with a three-goal lead thanks to a superb first-half performance. Just fourteen minutes after the kick-off, Christensen opened the scoring. Pedri found the Brazilian on the left flank, the former Leeds man put a lovely cross into the six-yard box and Christensen poked home.

About halfway through the first half Edgar was sent off after seeing a second yellow card for a foul on Pedri. This was a hard blow for Betis who only three minutes later were punished again. In the 36th minute, Pedri found Kounde unmarked on the left flank and the Frenchman squared the ball to the penalty spot. Lewandowski fired home with a low effort to the far post and extended the lead for the home side.

Finally Raphinha put the icing on the cake to a perfect 45 minutes by adding a third. Busquets fed Raphinha inside the box through a lovely box and the Brazilian beat Silva with a close-range finish. The referee disallowed the goal due to offside but a VAR review validated the goal.

 

April 29, 2023