It was not a vintage performance from FC Barcelona this Friday against Mallorca, but the three points were secured thanks to a piece of sheer magic from a lad of just sixteen years of age.
Lamine Yamal capped an MVP display with an absolute peach of a goal with just over a quarter of hour remaining, and that was enough to nab three points that heap the pressure onto Real Madrid and Girona and also provide a welcome injection of morale ahead of the crunch Champions League tie with Napoli on Tuesday.
Penalty miss
Until the goal, there hadn’t been too much to get excited about other than a first half penalty that unfortunately wasn’t exploited.
Barça’s initially rejected appeal had subsequently been endorsed by a VAR review. Raphinha had indeed been clipped nastily and with Lewandowski on the bench, it was Ilkay Gündoğan who did the duties.
Sadly, however, visiting keeper Predrag Rajkovic read the German’s intentions well, and to make matters worse, Raphinha would eventually have to withdraw from the game.
Yamal beauty
There seemed to be an urgency missing from Barça’s football, but as the game progressed, so did the blaugrana pressure.
Lamine Yamal in particular burst into life. He’d already have scored a cracker had Rajkovic not managed to fingertip one brilliant effort onto the crossbar, but there was nothing the Serbian stopper could do when Barça’s teenage wonder struck again on 73 minutes.
