Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a 93rd-minute winner as they beat Valencia 1-0 on Saturday to keep pace with Real Madrid atop the LaLiga standings.
Barcelona, who earlier this week were eliminated from the Champions League, were headed toward another disappointing result at the Mestalla before Raphinha looped a cross toward the stretching Lewandowski for the Poland striker’s 13th league goal of the season.
Valencia’s Samuel Lino thought he had opened the scoring four minutes into the second half and the Mestalla crowd erupted, but the referee chalked it off following a VAR check as Marcos Andre had touched the cross with his hand.
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The hosts were then dealt a major blow with 18 minutes on the clock when their top scorer Edinson Cavani, who had netted the club’s four goals in their last three matches, came off with an ankle injury.
The result means Barca have 31 points after 12 games, the same as Real, who host second-bottom Girona on Sunday.
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Rapid reaction
1. Lewandowski saves Barcelona once more
It was almost another frustrating night for Barcelona until Robert Lewandowski, the one major positive from their campaign to date, popped up in stoppage time to earn them three crucial points at Valencia. The Polish striker finished well at the far post in stoppage time to take his tally to 18 for the season in all competitions and, more importantly, keep Barca on Real Madrid’s tails. They move level with the leaders for now, at least until Madrid host Girona on Sunday.
It looked like the goal would never arrive. A heated affair saw plenty of flare-ups but few real chances. When Ferran Torres missed the best opening of the game late on and Raphinha and Lewandowski combined to fluff the rebound, it looked as if Barca would follow up their midweek elimination from the Champions League by dropping points in LaLiga for just the third time this season.
Lewandowski’s late winner, though, which came after Samuel Lino had a goal ruled out for Valencia because of a Marcos Andre handball, papered over the cracks in the performance. Xavi Hernandez is struggling to get a consistent tune out of his side at the moment. Big wins against Villarreal and Athletic Club have now been followed up by under-par performances against Bayern Munich and now Valencia.
While he can bemoan injuries and bad luck in defence — more on that below — he is struggling to find the right attacking combinations. Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele started here, while Ferran Torres and Raphinha came on — although it was, as has often been the case, Lewandowski who had to come to the rescue.
