Lamine Yamal Nets a Brace as Barcelona Breeze Past Girona

There’s no stopping Barcelona at the moment. The Catalan giants breezed past Girona to clinch their fifth consecutive La Liga win of the campaign. And it was Lamine Yamal who played star turn. 

Barcelona cruised to a 4-1 victory, thanks to a stellar performance from their 17-year-old La Masia prodigy, who scored twice, along with goals from Dani Olmo and Pedri. For the first 30 minutes, it looked like Girona might give Hansi Flick's Barcelona a real challenge. But once Yamal broke the deadlock in the 30th minute, the floodgates opened. Yamal's first goal came from sheer determination. He stole the ball from David Lopez in Girona's attacking third and coolly slotted it past Paulo Gazzaniga. Just seven minutes later, Yamal struck again, curling a shot into the net from the edge of the box. Thanks to his brilliance, Barcelona went into halftime with a comfortable 2-0 lead. 

The second half saw Barcelona pick up right where they left off. Dani Olmo fired in a stunning volley just two minutes after the restart, giving Barcelona a commanding 3-0 lead. This was Dani Olmo’s third goal in three games in Barcelona colors, but the Spanish midfielder couldn’t finish the game as he was forced off due to a hamstring injury. Despite Olmo’s departure, Barcelona continued to dominate the proceedings. In the 64th minute, Pedri added a fourth with a slick left-footed finish. Girona's Christian Stuani scored a late consolation goal in the 80th minute, but it was merely a footnote in Barcelona’s dominant display. 

However, Barcelona’s near-perfect day was spoilt by Ferran Torres’ red card. The Spanish winger received his marching orders in the 86th minute for a dangerous tackle on Yaser Asprilla. Nevertheless, this victory maintains Blaugrana’s four-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga standings. Now, Barcelona travel to the French Riveira for their Champions League opener against Monaco on Thursday night, followed by a La Liga clash with Villarreal on Sunday. However, Hansi Flick will be without Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo for these fixtures.