Barcelona’s 16-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal scored twice to help the struggling Catalans to a 3-3 draw against Granada in LaLiga on Sunday, Sportivationng.com reports.
After a dramatic duel at the Olympic Stadium, Xavi Hernandez’s third-place team shared the spoils with their relegation-battling opponents, 19th, but are now 10 points behind champions Real Madrid.
Los Blancos hammered second-place Girona 4-0 on Saturday, extending their lead to five points and gaining control of the title race.
Youngster Yamal put Barcelona ahead, but Granada rallied with goals from Ricard Sanchez and on-loan Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri.
Robert Lewandowski equalized for Barcelona, but Ignasi Miquel put Granada ahead again before Yamal scored his second goal from long range.
It was the type of Barcelona performance that exemplified why Xavi opted to quit the club at the end of the season, believing that the club need a change of direction.
“It wasn’t meant to be, another missed opportunity, but we have to keep working,” Yamal told Movistar.
“I’ve got the trust of the coach but right now I’m thinking more about the draw and that we dropped two points than in my performance.”
Joao Cancelo turned nicely in the area and crossed invitingly, allowing Yamal to score at the far post after 14 minutes.
The winger became LaLiga’s youngest ever scorer in October, when the teams drew 2-2.
Yamal’s Highlights Against Granada
Lamine Yamal vs Granada https://t.co/fYEm7ukVES
— XDcomps (@XDcomps) February 11, 2024
Barcelona should have increased their advantage before the halftime, but Martin Hongla cleared off the line from Lewandowski’s drive following an excellent combination by Pedri and Ilkay Gundogan.
The Catalans were punished almost immediately when Pellistri, on loan from Manchester United, crossed for Sanchez to rocket into the top corner past Marc-André ter Stegen.
Miquel’s header from Faitout Maouassa’s cross gave Alexanda Medina’s team the lead again, but it was Ter Stegen who had the last touch.
It took a superb Yamal effort from outside the area to restore parity, with the youngster’s strike going in at the near post and beating Granada goalkeeper Augusto Batalla.
Barcelona substitute Marc Guiu had a chance to win the game in stoppage time, but he missed from close range.
Lamine Yamal becomes the youngest player to score a brace in La Liga history – going past Ansu Fati’s record from February 2020.
16-year-old Lamine Yamal is also the 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 player in the history to get 10+ G/A in a season.
