November 12, (THEWILL) – Barcelona escaped an embarrassing defeat at home to Alaves, thanks to two goals from Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker headed in an equaliser in the 53rd minute before converting a late penalty to secure a 2-1 win for the Catalan giants.
The match started disastrously for Barcelona as Alaves striker Samu scored after just 18 seconds. The 19-year-old could have added several more in a dominant first-half display from the visitors against a hapless Barcelona side missing key players Gavi and Frenkie De Jong.
Barcelona finally found their feet in the second half with Lewandowski nodding in from a Jules Kounde cross. The home side piled pressure on Alaves as they searched for a winner. It arrived courtesy of Lewandowski’s ice-cool 78th-minute penalty after Ferran Torres was fouled in the box.
The unconvincing performance will do little to ease pressure on manager Xavi after recent defeats to Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk. Yet, thanks to their talisman Lewandowski, Barcelona live to fight another day.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
