Sports Desk, Dec 21 (EFE).- Barcelona returned to winning ways in the Spanish La Liga on Wednesday, beating bottom placed Almeria 3-2 thanks to two goals from Sergi Roberto, as the Catalan club moved up to third place in the table.
Barcelona was made to sweat in its last LaLiga match of the year by a team that is still to register its first win this season, as the Andalusian side came back to draw level twice.
The Catalan side, which lost to Girona and were held to a draw by Valencia in their last two LaLiga outings, had an insipid start to the game at the Olympic Stadium, missing out on several chances before Brazilian Raphinha opened the scoring in the 33rd minute.
Almeria keeper Luis Maximiano did well to stop the header of Ronald Araujo from a corner but could not prevent Raphinha from smashing the ball into the net from the rebound. It was the Brazilian’s first LaLiga goal since Sep. 26.
While the goal was expected to lift Barcelona’s morale, that was not to be the case.
Almeria sank its teeth into Barcelona’s defense, with Leo Baptistao capitalizing on a lapse by Araujo to leave the game tied at halftime.
The goal was not initially awarded because of a suspected offside before VAR finally validated it.
Alarmed by a few more attacks, Barca coach Xavi Hernandez brought on Ferran Torres and Jules Kounde to replace Joao Felix and Andreas Christensen, looking to add some pace to their game.
However, they had to rely again on a set piece to retake the lead as Sergi Roberto headed home a Raphinha corner, helping Barca breathe a sigh of relief, but not for long as Edgar Gonzalez netted an equalizer.
The insistence of the current league champions finally put an end to the Almeria resistance as Robert Lewandowski found Sergi Roberto unmarked in the 83rd minute and the midfielder smashed home his second goal to ensure Barcelona left the field with a win.
The win took Barca’s tally to 38 points, still six behind leaders Girona and four points adrift of Real Madrid.
Among other developments in the tournament, Athletic Bilbao went level on 35 points with fourth-place Atletico Madrid after beating Las Palmas 1-0, while Rafael Benitez’s Celta Vigo lost 3-2 at Villarreal to remain stuck in the relegation zone with 13 points.
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